


Strangers in the Night

by Brambleshadow_of_WindClan



Series: The Night's Agents [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Case Fic, F/M, Gen, Other, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-16
Updated: 2011-11-11
Packaged: 2017-10-22 16:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 28,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/240259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan/pseuds/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the prime suspect in an ongoing investigation is murdered, the clues lead to a horrifying pattern for Tony and Ziva.</p><p>Book 1 in The Night's Agents series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly, this is an AU (Alternate Universe) fic. If you've ever read the Dark Guardian series by Rachel Hawthorne, I basically just took her info and inserted it into my latest multi-chap story, Strangers in the Night. I'm planning on making this into a series.
> 
> To clear up the time frame, it's set in season four, when Tony is on that undercover assignment with Jeanne (I hated that season), but I figured it would work for some situations I have planned *evil grin* which I'm not telling you about yet.
> 
> PLEASE REVIEW BEFORE FAVORITING OR SUBSCRIBING. Thank you.

NCIS-Mossad liaison officer Ziva David crept through the undergrowth, her partner Anthony DiNozzo hot on her trail. Her sensitive nose picked up the scent they were tracking and her eyes were quick to ferret out any visible clues. It would be easier to . . . But no, she would not risk exposing herself. DiNozzo was the only member on the team who knew her secret, and he had sworn not to tell Gibbs, McGee, Ducky, even Abby. They couldn't risk the consequences if the wrong people found out. Not even her Mossad colleagues knew the truth about Director David's daughter.

Ziva suddenly tensed, a slight growl rising in her throat. Tony's sharp hearing picked it up; his senses were almost as keen as his partner's. (How could they not, when they both had the same . . . _condition_?) She thought at him, _Cover me. She's close._

 _On it,_ came the reply.

The Mossad liaison officer slunk closer. She knew McGee and Gibbs would come soon, but hopefully the suspect could be apprehended by then. A few yards ahead, she could see a building through the trees. The lights were on, and she could hear someone moving around inside.

Ziva mentally contacted Tony, _Forget protocol. I'm going to shift._

 _Ziva—,_ Tony started to protest, then stopped. _I'm on your six._

She nodded an affirmative, then ducked behind a bush. All Tony could see was her head and shoulders. Then his partner was gone and a dark brown she-wolf stepped out from behind the bush. Only her chocolate-brown eyes remained the same.

 _Let's go._ Ziva's voice in his head reminded him that both of them were telepathic in wolf form. The senior field agent hurried after the she-wolf, thinking the infamous last words of Han Solo: _I have a bad feeling about this._

 _Oh, quit it,_ Ziva chided, slinking forward until she was at the door. Looking back, she narrowed her very human eyes at Tony. _You coming?_

 _Can't you shift back?_

 _Oh, sure. That is, if you'd prefer me without any clothes._

Personally, DiNozzo liked that idea. He quickly shoved aside the mental images, reminding himself that she could read his mind.

 _Let's get on with it,_ he decided.

Ziva bared her suddenly needle-sharp teeth in a snarl before throwing her head back and letting out a bone-chilling howl. Even though he knew the dark brown wolf in front of him was his partner, tremors of fear crept down Tony's spine.

Luckily, it had the desired effect. The door opened and Petty Officer Phoebe Madison froze as she saw Ziva standing in front of her looking ready to attack. Then her gaze flickered to DiNozzo, and she bolted.

Tony ordered, _Search the house. I've got her._

 _Okay._ Ziva didn't try to argue. She hurried back the way she'd come, picked up her clothes, then pelted back, paws thudding on the ground. The female Shifter headed into the small cabin and shifted back to human. After pulling on her black T-shirt, kaki cargo pants, and other clothing, she quickly searched the place.

A laptop computer was running, with an IM conversation going on. The Israeli quickly scanned it to see what it was about, then typed, "Sorry. Gtg." She bagged and tagged the laptop, then ducked out and followed Tony and the petty officer.

Ziva caught up with them a quarter mile away. She put on a burst of speed and emerged from the bushes a few feet in front of Phoebe, gun drawn. "NCIS! Don't move!"

The brunette slowed to a stop when she found herself looking down the barrel of a gun. That gave Tony the opportunity to cuff the petty officer they thought was dealing coke to her shipmates and murdered a rival.

Then they heard cars pull up, and McGee and Gibbs came to their aid—not that it was necessary.

"Where is—" The question died on Timothy McGee's lips as he took in the sight before him. "You already got her?" he asked in surprise. "We left you guys forty minutes ago!"

Tony exchanged an uneasy glance with Ziva before saying, "Well, a lot can happen in forty minutes, Probie."

"True," Leroy Jethro Gibbs interrupted. The team leader jerked his head in the direction of the car. "Get in back," he ordered Petty Officer Madison.

Sullenly, she did as she was told.

Ziva suddenly remembered the laptop. She told the team, "Follow me. We found her place. It's out in the hindwoods—"

"Backwoods," Tony corrected.

"—a quarter mile that way," Ziva went on as if her fellow Shifter hadn't spoken. Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and started hiking back. The Israeli could hear McGee's fumbling footsteps as he kept tripping over rocks and tree roots, while Tony and Gibbs made their way on silent feet. Sometimes Ziva wondered if her boss was like her and her partner.

Thinking of that caused her to remember her first transformation, when she was seventeen. She had gone through it with a friend of hers, but they'd both agreed that they weren't meant to be mates. (The first time a Shifter transformed into their animal form, the age limit was seventeen for girls, eighteen for guys on the first full moon after said b-day.) Ziva never really liked the unwritten rule that said a guy had to go through it alone, but the girl had to have her "mate" with her

Her gaze flicked over to her partner. She'd only seen him as a wolf once, but wanted it to happen again.

When Shifters morphed, hair became fur, teeth sharpened to become fangs, noses elongated into snouts, and hands and feet became paws. The eyes remained human, so when someone looked into a lycanthrope's eyes, they saw the eyes of a human, not a wolf.

The sound of the door creaking open brought Ziva back to earth with a bump. Quietly, she stepped in after Tony, her eyes flitting around, scanning for any signs of illegal activity.

McGee headed for the laptop that was still in the evidence bag where Ziva had left it. He slipped it out and, logging on, transferred all the data in the portable computer's hard drive to his handy flash drive.

At least five minutes later, the other three returned to the main room empty-handed.

"Let's get the laptop back to Abby," Gibbs said, clearly frustrated that their efforts had been futile.

"On it," Tim, Tony, and Ziva chorused, heading for the door.

Then Tony's undercover cell phone rang. He motioned for the others to go on ahead. When they were out of sight, he answered, "Hi, Jeanne. What'd ya got?"

The pretty doctor he was romancing as part of an assignment replied, "Finally! I've been trying to reach you for the past thirty minutes, but you didn't answer. Is something wrong?"

"No, I was in class," Tony lied. "They were watching a movie, and, well—"

"I know, I know," his "girlfriend" said. "I'll call later if this isn't a good time. See you Saturday?"

"Yeah, sure," he replied half-heartedly. "I gotta go." He hung up before she could say anything else. Tony sighed. Sometimes he hated his undercover assignment, since it meant lying to Jeanne—and to the team, Ziva especially. Jeanne didn't know his secret.

 _Tony, get over here—now!_ Ziva suddenly barked in his mind. We have problems.

 _I'm on my way,_ he assured her, breaking into a run.

The sight that greeted him at the car made his blood run cold—if that was possible for a shape-shifter.

Phoebe Madison stared blankly out the car window. There was a huge hole in her forehead and the front of her shirt was red with blood that gushed from a gash in her neck.


	2. Chapter 2

"Poor girl," Ducky murmured some fifteen minutes later as he bent over the petty officer's prone form.

"Duck, need I remind you she was our top suspect in a murder investigation?" Jethro told the aged M.E.

"No," the medical examiner said. Carefully he maneuvered the body until it was out of the car. "The body bag if you please, Mr. Palmer. Let's get her home."

"Of course, Doctor," Ducky's assistant said, bringing over the black bag they used to transport bodies. As they lifted the body, the old Scottsman noticed something in the woman's wounds glinting as it caught light. "Is that silver?"

Tony and Ziva exchanged anxious glances. They could heal from any wound unless the weapon was made of silver or they were bitten by another Shifter. (If they were shot in the heart or head, they died, but reverted back to human form in death.) If what had killed the petty officer was made of silver, then, well, it didn't look good.

"Hey!"

Both Tony and Ziva winced as the blow fell. Ziva rubbed the back of her head and demanded, "What was that for?"

Gibbs glared. "I said to head back. Now, are you coming, or should I leave the two of you out here for the wolves?"

Smiling thinly at the irony of that statement, the two Shifters slipped into the black Charger. As they started heading back to the Navy Yard, Ziva said to herself, "She couldn't have been one of us. We would've known."

It was true. When one lycanthrope met another, there was an instant connection. Think of it as like calling to like.

DiNozzo reached over and rested his hand on her thigh, reassuring her. Even though it was only for comfort, he felt her skin growing warm and he felt as if he'd been punched in the gut.

Then Ziva floored the accelerator and Tony was thrown back against the seat. Not even his reflexes could protect him from her driving. "Slow down!"

"Why? I'm only going fifty miles over the speed limit."

"That's exactly why! Ziva, if we get in an accident, God so help me I will personally—"

"I take it that whatever you have in mind will involve the dark, yes?"

"Uh, well . . ."

Ziva smiled triumphantly. "I was right!"

"Shut up," Tony muttered, turning on the radio. His beloved Frank Sinatra floated through the car. The Israeli Shifter hit the gas again, and the black Charger wove its way through traffic to reach the Navy Yard, beating the others by a minute.

When they walked into the squadroom from the elevator, Abby came flying towards them. "I just heard! I'm so sorry, guys. I might have like her, aside from the fact she was dealing cocaine and probably murdered a captain . . . Did you know Sister Rosita bowled a 750 and McGee's new book came out?"

"What?" For a few heartbeats Tony and Ziva looked blankly at the forensic scientist. Then her words registered and they glowered at the author of _Deep Six_ , wolfish growls emanating from them.

McGee gulped, noticing the sudden change in his teammates. Right then he was positive they could rip him into bite-sized McGemcity pieces and wolf him down. So to speak.

"No, we wouldn't," Tony said.

Tim glanced sharply at him. "Did you just—"

"Oh, no. Your thoughts were written all over your face."

"Do we have a job to do or not?" Gibbs suddenly spoke up, spooking his team. "Tony, background check; Ziva, try to find out who she was last with; McGee, go help Abby with the laptop we found in Petty Officer Madison's cabin. Try to see if what she was working on had any connection to our other case."

"Aren't we all trying to do that?" said Tony dryly as Tim and Abby vanished to Labby.

Gibbs just rubbed his temple. "I need more coffee." He left to refill at Starbucks.

Now it was just the two of them in the bullpen. Ziva leaned against her partner. "Tony, if what killed her was meant for us—"

"Are you saying the killer thought our victim was a Shifter?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Oh, great. This day just gets better and better." Not knowing why he did what he did next, he dipped his head down toward the side of her neck. His nostrils flared as he inhaled her scent. "You smell like the forest at night."

Surprise sparked from Ziva and she stepped away. "Uh, thanks. Shouldn't you be running a background check?" she asked, suddenly aware of curious stares from other agents.

"Oh, right." DiNozzo sat down in his desk chair a few moments before Gibbs walked in with his fresh cup of coffee. Both Shifter's noses twitched at the pungent aroma, wondering how their boss drank the stuff.

~*~*~*~

Down in Labby, Abby was taking a drink of Caf-Pow while she and McGee stared at the image of Petty Officer Madison's hard drive on the monitor. "The Wolf" by Heart blared from the stereo near Bert the Hippo.

McGee threw up his hands in frustration. "I don't believe it! We've tried almost every cipher I can think of and we can't decrypt the email messages or IMs! I even tried Morse code!"

Abby looked at him in confusion. "How does Morse code help us?"

"It doesn't."

"What doesn't help us?" asked the team's leader as he came up behind them.

"Morse code."

"Well, did you find anything that can help us?"

"Yep," said Abby. "There were a few documents on the hard drive about her drug deals—prices, names of customers, things like that. She also had a lot of music—mostly classic rock. Not that I normally listen to that, but I do like some of Heart's songs and Def Leopard—"

Gibbs cleared his throat meaningfully and tilted his head toward the stereo, where "The Wolf" was still playing. Abby's eyes widened as she realized her blooper, but forgot all about it when the silver-haired fox handed her some shiny fragments in an evidence jar and a fresh Caf-Pow.

"Wow, all this evidence and Caf-Pow! Is it my birthday?"

The coffee-loving sniper ignored her. "Duck wants you to identify those. They were in the petty officer's wounds."

"Anything for you, o' fearless leader."

Gibbs smiled briefly before leaving Abby's lab and heading down to Autopsy. A few minutes later, the doors hissed open and he walked in to find Jimmy Palmer tap-dancing while Dr. Mallard was working on a meat puzzle.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?"

Palmer froze, taking his earphones out. The Autopsy Gremlin shot a look at Ducky that said, "Help me." Luckily for him, the Duckman came to the rescue.

"Have you seen what Agent Hanson brought me?" he asked Jethro, who took a closer look at the human jigsaw puzzle. "The poor man was found in a vat of alcohol."

"Wasn't that a previous case?"

"Oh, no. This fellow was discovered an hour ago."

"Do you have anything on our case, Duck?"

"Of course I do." The NCIS medical examiner flipped on the X-ray screen and put up the X-ray images of Phoebe Madison's neck, head, torso, and extremities. "The cause of death was the gunshot wound to the head, but the throat wound seemed like overkill to me."

"Well," Gibbs said, "if you just about cut someone's head off you know they're dead."

"Good point. The strange part is we've found no defensive wounds on her hands or arms."

"She was handcuffed, Duck."

"Yes, but that's not the point. She still had enough range of motion to defend herself."

"So you're saying she knew her killer."

"Yes."


	3. Chapter 3

The door to Abby's lab slid open with a hiss of air and the team's two and only Shifters approached the black-haired Goth. "The Wolf" was still playing, since Abby had it on a loop. Both of them froze as they listened to the lyrics:

 _". . . But you are only a lonely hunter  
Some things you can't disguise  
Just to look in the hallway mirror  
Now it's howling in your eyes_

 _The wolf  
Prowling in the nighttime  
The wolf  
Howling in the moonshine  
The wolf  
Gives you what you want but he ain't no friend of mine . . ."_

Ziva felt her hackles rise and her teeth bare in a snarl, slowly sharpening. Tony put a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Take it easy, Zi. It's just a song."

His touch sent a warm current through her and she could feel her canines resuming their normal shape as she calmed down.

Abby must have sensed her presence, since she said, "Hi, guys. What brings you to my humble lab?"

Ziva asked, "Do you have the results on that substance Ducky found in Petty Officer Madison's wounds?"

"Not yet. Major Mass Spec is still—" She was interrupted by the mass spectrometer making a beeping noise. Immediately, she typed a command and the results popped up on the computer screen.

Tony and Ziva eyed them with dread: the fragments were 97% silver.

Right then, Gibbs walked in. "What'd ya got, Abbs?"

Abby spun around to face him. "You know the shiny stuff Ducky found in Phoebe's wounds?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"It's almost pure silver, Gibbs."

McGee remarked, "Isn't silver used to kill werewolves?"

The three of them turned to ask the movie buff, but he and his Mossad sidekick had vanished.

"Where'd they go?" McGee asked.

At a look from his boss, he added hastily, "I'll go look for them." The probie left, the doors hissing shut in his wake.

Before leaving, Gibbs softly pressed his lips to Abby's cheek. "That's good work, Abbs."

She beamed and whirled back around, sucking on her Caf-Pow.

~*~*~*~

Upstairs, Gibbs stopped and stared in surprise when he saw Ziva and Tony at their desks, working. He wondered, _How did they get up here so fast?_

"Hey, Boss," DiNozzo greeted him. "Ziva's got something on our petty officer."

"What?"

Ziva rose from her chair and grabbed the plasma remote. She pressed a button and brought up some photos and a call log. "Petty Officer Madison was last with a guy called Chris Nixon. According to her email and phone logs, they were contacting each other at least twice a week."

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything," said Tony as he looked at the driver's license photo. Nixon had shaggy blond hair that fell in front of his hazel eyes.

"True, but they were on the phone at least five minutes before we arrived."

"Well, go get him," Gibbs said to Ziva. "Take DiNozzo with you."

He was surprised when neither of them complained, especially when Ziva announced that she was driving. The former Marine eyed the two partners suspiciously. Then they were gone from view as the elevator doors shut with a ding.

The Mossad liaison officer leaned back, resting her head on his chest. She said, "Let's try to resolve this without morphing."

"I promise I won't revert to wolf unless I have to."

Ziva felt him stiffen against her as she breathed in deeply, savoring the natural fragrance of his skin. She couldn't help thinking that he smelled like brick and pine needles.

"Why, thank you," Tony said, causing Ziva to jump forward. She whirled to face him, but the elevator doors opened before she could say anything. As they walked out to the car, she seethed, "You were reading my thoughts?"

Tony fell in beside her as they walked to the car, running a hand through his medium-brown hair. "How can I not? You smell good that I'm always focusing on you . . ."

Ziva stopped dead in her track. Tony ended up taking a few more steps before backtracking. "What?"

"If you can read my mind, you'll know," the Mossad liaison snapped, striding forward until she reached the car. She slid inside the driver's side without waiting for his response.

They were off in a screech of tires.

~*~*~*~

At least an hour later, they pulled up at Chris Nixon's Tudor-style house, Tony complaining for the hundredth time about Ziva's driving style.

He shut up when Ziva went all rigid.

"Tony, over there. I think I see Chris Nixon." Her eyes had spotted a twenty-something man with shaggy blond hair bent over picking up a newspaper. She strode forward, sensing her partner fall into step behind her. "Chris Nixon?"

"Yeah?" He looked up, eyes wary. They narrowed when he saw the two tough-looking Shifters. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Tony flashed his badge. "NCIS Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. This is Officer David."

"Did something happen to Phoebe?" Chris asked, worry flashing in his hazel eyes.

"Well, you could say that," said Ziva. "She was killed this morning shortly after she talked to you."

Nixon paled. "You think she was murdered because of our conversation?"

 _No,_ Ziva thought. She couldn't tell him that, so she flashed back, "What were you talking about?"

Chris shifted his weight, clearly feeling uncomfortable. "Can we do this inside, please?" He moved toward the front door, opened it, and entered the house. Exchanging glances, the two Shifters followed, Tony muttering, "I hate dealing with Statics," under his breath.

"Then why did you become a cop?" Ziva whispered.

"So I can stick my nose into other people's business."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Um, excuse me?" Chris broke into their conversation. "Were we going to take all day? I need to be somewhere in an hour."

Ziva felt flustered, but hid it as she said smoothly, "What exactly were you and Petty Officer Madison talking about on the phone?"

"She said that you guys were after her—no surprise there—and that she'd seen something that had her pretty freaked out."

"Can you remember what?" Tony asked urgently.

"Something about wolves? No, werewolves."

Ziva could see her own shock reflected in her partner's eyes. Quickly regaining her cool composure, the Israeli Shifter said, "Where were you at nine twenty-five this morning?"

"It's Friday. I was at work. Check with my boss if you don't believe me."

"You just got off work at ten fifteen in the morning?" Ziva asked, puzzled.

"I work the graveyard shift," Chris said defensively. "Now, are we done?"

Ziva glanced at Tony, who shrugged. "Yeah."

"Good. Beat it."

The Mossad liaison forced down the growl that was rising in her throat and handed him her card. "Call us if you remember anything else." Then she turned and walked briskly out of the house, DiNozzo bounding after her.

Once they were outside, she couldn't hold back a frustrated snarl. "Just who did he think he was?"

"Well, it _is_ his house, Zi."

"That doesn't give him the right to—" She stopped and spun around as she felt eyes boring into her back. "Do you feel that?"

"What?"

"We're being watched."

Tony wheeled around, but not before Ziva caught sight of the curtain behind the window swishing back into place. She shook her head, ponytail bouncing, and suggested, "Why don't we run for a bit? The others won't expect us for a while."

The senior field agent shrugged, but there was something predatory in his eyes. He teased, "Biped or four-legged?"

Ziva started jogging, heading for a nearby copse of trees. Sighing, Tony started to follow her, but stopped when his cell phone rang—his alias's cell. After casting a longing glance at Ziva, he answered it. "Hi, Jeanne."

"Hey, Tony," she began.

"I'm sorry, but this really isn't a good time. Look, how about you meet me tomorrow night around eight for dinner?"

"Okay." Did she sound disappointed, or was it just him?

"I'll see you then," DiNozzo told her, hanging up. Looking back at Ziva, he stiffened when he saw her wolf head sticking out of the trees. In wolf form, Ziva always took his breath away.

 _Come on, Tony. I don't have all day._

From where she was in the trees, Ziva could see his mouth hitch up in a smile. Then he was striding towards her, green eyes glinting mischievously. Ziva turned her back as he ducked behind a bush; then Tony was gone and the wolf stepped out.

His medium brown coat shone as the sunlight dappled it. Ziva stood staring for a few heartbeats, then shook herself, dark brown fur rippling. _Let's run_ , she thought, flicking his nose with her tail as she pelted away.

A shiver ran through her as she felt Tony's pelt brush hers, and then there was nothing but the wind caressing her fur and the feeling of flying over the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not a happy camper. Abby and McGee could see that right away as the team's leader stormed over to Tony and Ziva—who had just returned from talking with Chris Nixon—and demanded, " _Where have you been_?"

"Probably getting it on somewhere," Abby muttered under her breath. She was positive neither field agent heard her, so she was surprised when Ziva's head snapped in her direction, some emotion the Goth couldn't identify flickering in her eyes.

"We were following a lead," Ziva told the team leader, "not, as Abby put it, getting it off."

"Uh, Zi, it's 'getting it on'," Tony corrected, his cheeks flushing.

"Well, I have to go back to my lab," Abby piped up, seeking to disrupt the sudden awkward tension. "You know how my babies are when I leave them alone for too long. McGee, come on. I need you with me." She yanked the stupefied probie out of view of the others, dragged him behind her all the way to the elevator, and shoved him in. Looking back out towards Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs, she had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at their puzzled expressions.

"Could you tell me what you're planning sometime today, Abby?" McGee asked.

She grinned. "Surely you've noticed how they're always flirting with each other, Timmy. I think Ziva's jealous of Tony's new girlfriend."

He did a facepalm. "Abby, every single time you try to set them up, it backfires. Every single time."

"But Timmy—"

"No. Shouldn't we be working on the case?"

Abby sighed. "Okay. Besides, who would buy silver bullets anyway?"

"Someone on a werewolf hunting expedition?" McGee suggested as the twosome walked towards Labby.

"Good point." Abby sat down at the computer, grabbed a Caf-Pow, and went to work.

Meanwhile, Gibbs was still chewing out his senior field agent and Mossad liaison officer. He spat, "Don't either of you do that again!"

Ziva wasn't listening; she was focusing on Tony—his clear, green eyes, dark hair, tawny skin . . . She drew in her breath, almost able to feel his hands playing over her back.

"Now, did you find anything that can help us find who killed Petty Officer Madison?" Gibbs's voice broke into her fantasy.

Luckily, DiNozzo came to Ziva's rescue. He told their boss, "She might have seen something she shouldn't have."

"Like what?"

"Well, Nixon told us that she was babbling on about something"—he paused, knowing how ridiculous it would sound, Ziva thought—"dealing with the . . . supernatural. Madison also knew we were investigating her, although I don't know how she found out."

"She was tipped off . . ." The former Marine's voice trailed away and he looked up toward MTAC. Ziva couldn't help give a reflexive smirk as she saw Director Jenny Sheppard leaning over the railing staring at Gibbs. Smiling slightly, the blue-eyed redhead gestured for Gibbs to join her.

"Saved by the Director," the Mossad liaison muttered as Gibbs made his way to his former lover.

Tony let out a bark of laughter before correcting, "The expression is 'saved by the bell,' Ziva."

"No, in this case, it is the Director." She pointed at Jen, who was walking with Jethro to MTAC. Then a thought struck her. "What was the name of the song Abby was playing earlier?"

"'The Wolf'," Tony replied. Then he asked suspiciously, "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to listen to it."

Her partner shook his head. "After your reaction earlier, I thought you wouldn't. You never cease to amaze me, my crazy ninja."

She punched him on the upper arm. "Just play it, will you?"

"Sure." Humming a Frank Sinatra song, he set himself to work, the keys tapping furiously. At least thirty seconds later, he hit Play and a heavy rock beat filled the bullpen. Finally Ann Wilson's voice accompanied the music.

 _You were born to privilege  
Licking on a silver spoon  
You think you gotta buy all your friends  
Just so you can tear up the room_

 _But your kind is a dime a dozen  
I've seen it all before  
A parasite in a good disguise  
Just another wolf at the door_

 _The wolf  
Prowling in the nighttime  
The wolf  
Howling in the moonshine  
The wolf  
Gives you what you want but he ain't no friend of mine_

Ziva said, "This song is so you, DiNozzo."

He glared, but before he could reply, the lyrics started up again:

 _You lay it on oh so sweet  
Just like that bad cologne  
You're just smilin' tooth and nail  
Got to make your presence known_

 _But you are only a lonely hunter  
Some things you can't disguise  
Just to look in the hallway mirror  
Now it's howlin' in your eyes_

 _The wolf  
Prowling in the nighttime  
The wolf  
Howling in the moonshine  
The wolf  
Gives you what you want but he ain't no friend of mine_

Ziva tensed, wondering if the rest of the team saw what she and Tony tried so hard to hide. _Don't be ridiculous_ , she scolded herself. _They would have said something._ That reminded her of the case and their suspicions . . .

 _Silent slick and stealthy  
Slinking through your evil nights  
You can see in the dark they tell me  
The daylight burns your eyes_

 _I know you're trying to track me down now  
You're right on my trail  
You thinking you're going for the big big game  
But you're just chasing your own tail_

 _The wolf  
Prowling in the nighttime  
The wolf  
Howling in the moonshine  
The wolf  
Gives you what you want but he ain't no friend of mine_

The Israeli smirked at her partner, who said defensively, "I am not chasing after you, Zee-vah!"

Her smirk vanished as she said darkly, "Well, _someone_ is hunting either us or our kind. Remember the silver bullet that was used to murder Phoebe Madison?"

That comment pretty much killed DiNozzo's playful attitude. "Thank you for reminding me, Ziva," he said sarcastically.

" _De nada_."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For further clarification on the time period, this is set in season four, but season four will be taking place in the current year. That way I don't have to worry about whether a particular song or movie that's refrenced existed when season four originally aired.

The next morning, Ziva arrived at work to find Tony was already at his desk. That was odd enough, but what was really unusual was the fact that he was _working_. Well, he wasn't reading his favorite magazine (he was reading a book) and he was on the computer.

"Is something wrong, Tony?" Ziva asked, deciding to forgo her usual Internet browsing ritual so she could question her partner.

His green eyes met her brown ones. Ziva felt several emotions—desire, lust, fear—rocket through her, catching her off guard. At the same time, she was all too aware of the fact that they were alone (McGee hadn't arrived yet and Gibbs was elsewhere) in the bullpen. She was snapped out of her chaotic thoughts as Tony replied, "I was doing some research, Zee-vah."

"What kind of research?"

"About the case. I was checking to see if anyone in the D.C. area had bought silver bullets lately, but nothing so far."

"Aren't Abby and McGee already doing that?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted, "but I figured it couldn't hurt to look at it from a different angle."

"You two, gym, now."

Tony jumped and Ziva almost stabbed her boss. Gibbs really needed to wear something with bells so they would know he was coming. Although with their senses, she supposed, they should have smelled him. The problem was, she'd been so focused on DiNozzo.

The Mossad liaison couldn't help feel excited at the prospect of a workout. After changing into her gym clothes, she headed out to the wrestling mat.

"DiNozzo, go with her," Gibbs ordered, moving over to the punching bag.

The senior field agent didn't try to back out. Instead, he shot Ziva a feral grin. "This is gonna be fun."

She smirked and began stretching. "Don't try too hard. We all know I'm going to take you down."

McGee suddenly burst in, wearing NCIS sweats. "Sorry I'm late, Boss. I was late catching a bus, and—"

"McGee, Rule Number Six. I don't care why you're late. Now, are you ready to box?"

Tim's jaw hung slack. He stammered, "B-b-b-b-box?"

"That's what I said." Gibbs sounded irritated. "Grab a pair of gloves and join me."

Ziva chuckled. "He's not going to last." She finished stretching and stood up, circling Tony. He copied her, waiting for the first strike.

When Tony went high, aiming for her torso, Ziva ducked low. She grabbed his legs and used his momentum to toss him behind her onto the floor. Then she pounced, but Tony rolled out of the way. As soon as she landed, he was on her, gripping her wrists and holding them behind her back. Ziva thrashed, the wolf inside her not at all happy with being restrained. She hadn't counted on him being so strong. However, she figured she had agility on her side.

Tony's hands slipped. Immediately Ziva flipped over, brought up her foot, and kicked him. He scrambled off her, and she pounced again, bringing them both to the floor. All at once she was pressing too close against him. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled his scent, and she had to fight a ridiculous urge to say something alone the lines of making love instead of war. She couldn't say that in front of Gibbs, though. Instead, all she said was, "I'm done here," and rolled off him.

After helping Tony up, she glanced over at the boxing ring. Tim was knocked out, tongue lolling. Ziva had to bite her tongue to keep in a bark of laughter.

Gibbs stood over the probie, nudging him gently with his shoe. "Come on, McGee. Get up."

McGee's eyes snapped open. He tried to sit up, groaned instead, and put a hand to his temple. "Geez, Boss, do you have to hit so hard?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't hit you that hard."

Ziva couldn't help it. She cracked up. The rest of the team swung their heads toward her, Tony's quizzical expression reminding her of a dog tilting its head in confusion. "Ziva, what's so funny?" he asked.

"McGee being knocked out on the first punch. I guess you could say Gibbs hit him with his best shot."

"Ooo, I love that song," Tony said. As he started singing, Ziva clamped her hand over his mouth. She warned, "On that note, I will lock you up in a room and have you listen to 'It's a Small World' for twenty-four hours straight. Are we clear?"

He nodded. _Please don't follow through._

She started to say, "I won't," but stopped just in time. He hadn't spoken out loud. Was it significant that they could read each other's thoughts when they weren't in wolf form? Soul mates were supposed to be completely in tune, and since they were related to wolves, their kind mated for life. Was it possible that Tony . . .

 _No. It can't be._

"Come on. Abby's got something," Gibbs said as he snapped his phone shut. Ziva was jolted out of her confusing thoughts. She shoved them to the back of her mind as she went into the locker room to change before heading to Labby.

~*~*~*~

Music blared from the stereo. This time it was "She Wolf" by Shakira. Not Abby's usual choice in music, but since this case seemed to be dealing with Shifters, the Goth was probably playing every song dealing with wolves or werewolves that she could find. As long as she didn't start playing "Thriller" anytime soon, Ziva didn't mind the change in music.

"Abby, what'd ya got?" Gibbs asked, almost shouting to be heard above the song.

Apparently she heard him, since the volume toned down enough that they could talk without having to yell. Abby twisted around with a smile on her face. She said triumphantly, "I was able to get the recording of Petty Officer Madison's last phone call."

"You can do that?"

"Yes."

"Play it," the silver-haired fox ordered.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard; then the whole team could hear Phoebe Madison's last phone call.

 _"Chris." She sounded panicked._

 _"Yeah, Phoebe?"_

 _"I need help. NCIS is onto me. I saw something I shouldn't have."_

 _His voice sharpened. "What?"_

 _"This may sound crazy, but I think I saw werewolves."_

 _"Werewolves?" He laughed. "You must have been seeing things."_

 _"I wasn't. Chris, I—" She broke off as a howl came from outside. "They're here!"_

There was nothing more after that.

After a few heartbeats, DiNozzo summed it up: "That's creepy."

"Ya think, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said sarcastically. He turned to leave, but Abby grabbed his arm in a vice-grip. "Wait, there's more."

"What?"

"We were able to trace the silver bullet. We ran the serial number and found there are only two places in D.C. who manufacture them. Who knew so many stores sold silver bullets?"

Gibbs coughed lightly, reminding the excitable Goth to stay on track. She did just that after taking a sip of Caf-Pow.

"Chris Nixon—"

She was interrupted by a low growl. Startled, everyone except Tony and Ziva looked around for the source. Then Ziva felt their eyes rest on her. Why are they looking at me like that? She looked down and studied her hands, which—to her immense relief—were still human.

"Ziva, calm down," Tony murmured.

His words made Ziva realize that she was the one growling. Immediately, she stopped, hoping she hadn't given their secret away. Abby could handle it, but she wasn't so sure about Palmer, Ducky, McGee, Gibbs, or Jenny.

The team was still staring at her. Abby said, "Is it just me, or did that sound like a wolf?"

Tony laughed, but it sounded forced to Ziva. "What, you're saying you believe in werewolves, Abby? Everyone knows they only exist in movies, books, and TV shows."

"I'm not saying I do, Tony, but ever since the start of this case the two of you have been acting a bit strange."

"Abby, the case," prompted Gibbs.

"Oh, right. As I was saying, Nixon bought a pack of 'em a few days ago. That howl was really creepy. Do you think she actually saw werewolves?"

"Abby, how many Caf-Pows have you had today?"

"I think this is my fifth."

"Let's try not to break the record, Abby."

"You're right. That was ugly."

McGee spoke up for the first time since entering Labby. "Where'd that howl come from?"

Ziva exchanged an uneasy glance with DiNozzo. They hadn't arrived until five minutes later, so where had the howl come from? Ziva hadn't scented anyone—or anything—else. Could the call have been faked?

She hoped so. If it had, then her and Tony's suspicions were correct.

Another thought occurred to her: could the petty officer have recorded the howl some other time, then played it back on her laptop computer? It had been running, after all. There had been an IM conversation going on when she and DiNozzo had interrupted. She'd even read it, for crying out loud! Voicing her train of thought, Ziva asked, "Anything else on the laptop?"

McGee started, "The messages were encrypted—"

"I could read it," Ziva reminded them.

Abby gasped. "Of course! It's a foreign language! Thanks, Ziva!" Rushing forward, she hugged her tightly.

"Careful, Abby," Ziva choked. "Need—air."

"Sorry." The Goth forensic scientist released the ninja assassin and turned back to her computer. Typing furiously, she ordered, "McGee, stay here. I need you to help. Gibbs, Ducky wants to see you."

Gibbs nodded, a small smile on his face, before heading out. The silver-haired fox ordered, "Tony, Ziva, head back to Petty Officer Madison's house. See what you can find."

"On it, Boss," they chorused, exiting Abby's lab for the elevator.

DiNozzo snatched the Charger's keys out of Ziva's hand once they were inside. "This time, I'm driving."

"Of course."

While they were making their way to the car in the parking lot, Ziva couldn't help tuning her partner's thoughts, only to find nothing that would help her find out what was troubling him. She started to ask what was wrong, then decided against it. He would tell her when he was ready.

When they were a few miles away from the Navy Yard, Ziva turned on the radio, hoping to break the sudden tension between her and Tony. Unfortunately, she didn't recognize the song until it reached the first verse:

 _S.O.S. she's in disguise  
S.O.S. she's in disguise  
There's a she wolf in disguise  
Coming out, coming out, coming out_

Abby was playing this same song earlier, the Israeli Shifter remembered. Tony said, "Wasn't Abby—"

She shushed him so they could listen.

 _A domesticated girl that's all you ask of me  
Darling it is no joke, this is lycanthropy  
The moon's awake now with eyes wide open  
My body's craving so feed the hungry_

Ziva exchanged a glance with her partner, and was startled to find he was looking at her with a heated intensity in his eyes. "Tony, it's just a—"

"But it's slightly true." He grinned. "This isn't a joke."

Her heartstrings tugged. She suddenly wanted him to kiss her . . .

 _Snap out of it_ , she told herself.

 _I've been devoting myself to you Monday to Monday and Friday to Friday  
Not getting enough retribution or decent incentives to keep me at it  
I'm starting to feel just a little abused like a coffee machine in an office  
So I'm gonna go somewhere cozy to get me a lover  
And tell you all about it_

 _There's a she wolf in your closet  
Open up and set her free  
There's a she wolf in the closet  
Let it out so it can breathe_

Again she was all too aware of Tony's eyes on her. Warmth flooded her. Ziva frantically tried to focus on anything else except her fellow Shifter.

Why was it she couldn't go five seconds without thinking about him?

To help her out, or so it seemed, Shakira started singing again. The Mossad liaison found herself humming along.

 _Sitting at a bar, staring right at her prey  
It's going well so far, she's gonna get her way  
Nocturnal creatures are not so prudent  
The moon's my teacher and I'm her student_

"To paraphrase, this song is totally you, Ziva," Tony commented.

"Just keep your eyes on the road and your mind out of the streets," she shot back.

"It's 'out of the gutter,' Zee-vah."

 _To locate the single men I got me a special radar  
And the fire department hotline in case I get in trouble later  
Not looking for cute little divas or rich city guys that just want to enjoy  
But having a very good time and behaving very bad in the arms of a boy_

Ziva felt, rather than saw, Tony grin. "Yep, this sounds like you."

"Shut it," she growled, eyes flashing.

 _There's a she wolf in the closet  
Open up and set her free  
There's a she wolf in your closet  
Let it out so it can breathe_

 _S.O.S. she's in disguise  
S.O.S. she's in disguise  
There's a she wolf in disguise  
Coming out, coming out, coming out_

 _S.O.S. she's in disguise  
S.O.S. she's in disguise  
There's a she wolf in disguise  
Coming out, coming out, coming out_

 _There's a she wolf in your closet  
Let it out so it can breathe_

"Let's change the station, shall we?" Ziva suggested.

Her partner nodded and changed it to a country station. Ziva made a face. "Anything but that."

A moment later, Frank Sinatra could be heard.

"No."

Tony whined, "But, Ziva, it's Sinatra!"

She ignored him, and a hard rock song filled the black Charger. DiNozzo smiled, recognizing the opening chords. "Good choice."

"Huh?"

"Listen."

 _After midnight  
I call you  
Even though I know better  
I just got to  
The moon is full  
My heart is hot  
And you know what I'm longing to do  
With this aching I got_

"Tony . . ." warned Ziva.

 _The call of the wild  
Oh baby can't you hear me calling  
Oooh . . .  
The call of the wild  
Call of the wild_

"What? It's completely ironic! You know, considering how we find our mate and all."

"If you value your life, stop talking."

 _How can you ask me  
Why I'm pushing pushing  
When you know damn well  
What you do  
What you do to a woman  
I get so inspired  
Lying so close  
It's the flash and the flame and the fever  
I need the most_

 _The call of the wild  
Oh baby can't you hear me calling  
Oooh . . .  
The call of the wild_

"Don't even think about it."

"Were you tapping into my thoughts?"

Ziva just sighed in exasperation. She knew that when they met their other half, it was like a kick to the gut, but Tony? Ridiculous.

Or not.

 _If I could chain you to me  
I'd do it in a minute  
My magic caravan  
Baby you'd be in it  
I'm hiding the prize and you're gonna win it  
You're gonna win it now_

 _The call of the wild  
Oh baby can't you hear me calling, calling  
Oooh  
The call of the wild  
Oooh  
The call of the wild  
Oooh  
Oh baby  
Listen to me howling_

 _The call of the wild  
Yeah  
Oooh  
Yeah_

Glaring at DiNozzo, Ziva switched off the radio.

"What are you doing tonight, Tony?" she asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"What? Oh, I'm just going out with a friend of mine for dinner. You're not planning on crashing, are you?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

It took a while for Tony to answer. When he did, he replied slowly, "Well, it's just that you always seem to be a bit . . . jealous whenever I'm around other women. It actually wouldn't surprise me if you did follow me."

"You know I'd find you anywhere."

"With that amazing nose you possess, no doubt."

"I think you passed our victim's house."

Ziva bit back a grin as he did a U-turn and pulled into the deceased's driveway. The place where they had tracked her down was a cabin she owned and occasionally used. This was Petty Officer Phoebe Madison's real home.

Thirty minutes later, they returned to the black Charger loaded with evidence bags. When they brought all the evidence down to Labby, the two Shifters stopped dead in the doorway.

Abby and McGee were quote-unquote dancing to some song resonating through the room. Well, Abby was dancing. McGee looked like he was having a seizure.

Ziva's jaw dropped. Tony whispered, "That is something no one should have to see."

"Dead right."

Slowly, they started to slink away. Their plans for a swift getaway were thwarted when Abby spotted them and called out, "Hey, guys! Did you bring me anything?"

Cringing, the two Shifters turned to see the perky Goth looking at them expectantly. When they handed her their armloads of evidence bags, she smiled happily and whirled back to the table. "Now, leave. I have lots of work to do."

Tony and Ziva were happy to oblige. They hightailed it out of there without a second invitation, the chords of "Thriller" following them out.

 

"Poor dear," Ducky said as he bent over the deceased. "To be hunted down and then killed like that . . . This sort of reminds me of those old werewolf legends. Did you know that the fact they can only be killed by silver is a recent establishment?"

"No, I didn't, Doctor," Palmer said from where he was washing his hands. The Autopsy Gremlin looked up as Gibbs came in.

"You wanted to see me, Duck?"

"Oh, yes, Jethro." Ducky left Phoebe Madison's body from where he was performing the autopsy and walked over to the X-ray screen. Lighting it up, he pointed out some abnormalities. "I was able to confirm the cause of death, but there was something that caught my eye. You see the nicks in the rib cage here, here, and here?"

The former Marine nodded.

"Well, I didn't find any corresponding marks on the body. There's also this." The M.E. returned to the petty officer and pointed out a tattoo on her arm. "It says _loup-garou_. That's French for—"

"Werewolf," Gibbs finished.

"Picked up a bit of French when you were in Paris, Jethro?"

"Aw, come on, Duck. You know I don't like to talk about that."

"Dropping the subject. Why would she have a tat that translates to 'werewolf'?"

"That's what I'm going to find out. You need anything else, Duck, call."

"Very funny."

But the coffee-loving sniper was gone.

~*~*~*~

Back in her lab after the senior field agent and his Mossad liaison had flown the coop, Abby started busying herself with all the evidence. McGee was back to working on the laptop while listening to "Wide Awake in Dreamland." After an hour of silence, Abby decided to use Elf Lord as a sounding board. "McGee, I know you said that we shouldn't try to hook Tony and Ziva up, but it's fate! They're going to end up together sooner or later, you know."

Probie-Wan-Kenobi didn't answer.

The Caf-Pow-loving scientist was unfazed. She continued, "We all know it's going to happen, even Gibbs. I mean, some rules are meant to be broken. Are you even listening to me?"

He didn't even blink.

Her fist connected with his shoulder.

"Ouch!"

She grinned. "Good to see you're awake, Elf Lord."

That did it. A passerby outside froze and dropped his clipboard as Abby's yell of "Ow!" sounded through the door. (Yes, she could yell _that_ loud.)

~*~*~*~

As darkness fell and Gibbs cut his team loose for the day, Tony drove to the restaurant where he had arranged to meet Jeanne the previous day. He liked her and all, but she was a Static (Shifters' derogatory term for humans) for one thing, and he couldn't seem to get Ziva out of his head.

Still, he was relieved when he saw Jeanne sitting at a table. The pretty brunette greeted him with a warm smile as he joined her. "Hi, Tony."

"I'm glad you could make it," he replied.

For the next twenty minutes there was silence as they devoured their food. When Tony was finishing the last of his burger (done medium rare—generally Shifters liked nothing more than red meat), Jeanne asked, "How was your day, Tony?"

"Okay. We were watching— Wait, you probably wouldn't want to know what it was about."

"No, I would."

He grinned. "Werewolves." What? Hollywood's take on his kind was hilariously off base. Then Ziva's face flashed in his mind again. He could almost smell her nearby . . .

"Tony, is there something—or some _one_ —else I should know about?"

He smiled reassuringly. "Why would you think that?"

"You've been distracted the entire time we've been here, like your mind is elsewhere. Now, is there someone else?"

DiNozzo hesitated a moment too long. That gave Jeanne her answer. She pushed back the chair and bolted. Throwing down some cash to pay, he followed, but she was too far ahead already.

Then he heard the shriek coming from an alley.

 _Oh, crap. Jeanne!_


	6. Chapter 6

The undercover NCIS agent was running in the direction he'd heard Jeanne's scream from when he became aware of a figure sprinting alongside him. He hissed, "Ziva, what are you doing here?"

"Helping you!" she shot back, skidding to a halt as she neared the alley. Carefully, she poked her head around the corner. Tony copied her, hardly believing what he saw. They quickly withdrew.

Ziva whispered, "I don't suppose you have any weapons?"

"No, I'm undercover. Do you?"

She shook her head.

"Great. So what's the plan?"

"Simple. We shift, kill everyone except Jeanne, and leave."

"Thank you, General Eisenhower."

"Unless you have a better idea."

He didn't. Within a minute, both of them had shifted into their wolf forms. Snarling, they slunk into the alley, their brown pelts merging into the building. Ziva's dark brown eyes made her almost invisible, while Tony's green eyes shone in the amber streetlight. His lighter pelt would make it easier for the muggers to see him, he realized. There was nothing he could do about it now.

Ziva ordered, _You go for the fat one. I'll take out the other two._

 _Since when are you in charge? I'm the senior field agent!_

Instead of answering him, the Mossad liaison growled menacingly and leaped. Sighing, DiNozzo lunged for the fat man. His needle-sharp teeth sank into the guy's shoulder. Yelling in pain, the dude stepped away from the cowering doctor and tried to hit Tony—which was impossible since the big wolf was on his back.

Tony leaped clear and slowly advanced, lip curled to show his teeth and hackles bristling. Terrified, the mugger turned and ran without need for a second warning.

DiNozzo let out a small huff of satisfaction before asking, _Hey, Ziva, you need some help?_

 _Yes!_ His partner let out a yelp as one of the guys she was attacking kicked her off his partner-in-crime. Immediately Tony hurried to his partner's side. Already her wounds were healing. Even in the heat of battle, only a serious wound was a problem, because they continued healing, providing Shifters a sort of living armor.

One of them, a skinny guy with dark hair and blue eyes, gasped in horror, " _Loup-garou_!"

 _Oh, great,_ thought Tony, _he's French._

 _Thank you for the observation,_ Ziva snapped. _Now, a little help, please?_

The senior field agent knew he had to go for the throat if the opportunity presented itself. Soon, both offenders were no longer moving.

 _Well done, Tony,_ thought Ziva. _I told you if anyone gave you trouble to take those beautiful teeth of yours, sink them into their neck, and not let go until the body stops shaking._

 _Nice_ Alpha and Omega _reference._

 _Thanks._

A horrified gasp reminded the two wolves that they weren't alone. Tony swung his head over to Jeanne, who he'd risked revealing his kind's existence to save. The woman shrank back as the senior field agent padded over, fear in her eyes. Wanting to reassure her, Tony licked her hand.

 _Tony, we have to go,_ Ziva reminded him.

 _Oh, right._

The two of them turned their backs on the doc and trotted away. As soon as the coast was clear and they gathered their clothes, Tony and Ziva shifted back into their human forms. Then, while the Mossad liaison watched from nearby, DiNozzo walked over to Jeanne. As always, it amazed him that Shifters could move so quietly.

Jeanne's head snapped up to face him when he put a hand on her shoulder. "Get away from me!" she cried.

"What's wrong, Jeanne? Were you attacked?"

"You know very well what happened!" she hissed. "You rescued me, after all."

Tony decided to continue playing dumb. "How could I have? I was blocks behind you."

"Oh, maybe not as a _human_. As a wolf."

"I think you must have—"

She slapped his hand away from where it was probing her wounds. "How come you never told me that you can go all furry, Tony?"

"Jeanne—" He tried to help her up, but she shoved him away. "Stay away from me, _werewolf_!" the enraged woman spat. She pushed herself to her feet and limped rapidly away. Glaring back, Jeanne snapped bitterly, "I wish I'd never met you." She vanished into the night without another word.

When the brunette doctor was gone, Ziva walked over to Tony, carefully picking her way among the bodies. The Mossad liaison said, "Go after her! Let her know that—"

"Did you not see the way she looked at me, Ziva? All we did was horrify her, and we had to shift to save her life!" His voice rose until he was almost yelling. "I'll be lucky if she ever wants to see me again! If the Director found out about this—"

"Whoa, wait," interrupted Ziva. "What does Director Sheppard have to do with this?"

"I told you I was undercover. She's my assignment." DiNozzo paused to let his words sink in before he smiled weakly. "Since my date is a wash-out, you wanna hang out?"

Was it his imagination, or did she look excited at the prospect? Before he could react, Ziva leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He found himself wanting so much more. What Tony felt for his partner scared him so much that he'd pushed it away and focused on Jeanne. But now that La Grenuioulle's daughter was out of the picture . . .

Ziva smiled. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't take you up on that offer, Tony?"

"Wait, which one?"

"Spending the night with you. I don't know what other offer you were talking about."

So she hadn't been reading his thoughts. Tony almost sighed with relief. Smiling, he replied, "Great. There's this club nearby . . ."

~*~*~*~

Ziva followed Tony into the club and was immediately bombarded by sights and sounds. If she was human it would have been bad enough, but with her heightened senses it was almost too much to take in. To make matters worse, a familiar song was beginning to play.

"The same song twice in one day," Ziva groaned. "You've got to be kidding."

"Aw, come on, Ziva! Sing along!" Tony pleaded, twirling her around underneath his raised arm.

An idea came to the Israeli, and she grinned. Sashaying her hips, she ran her hands up the sides of her body and lifted her hair off her neck, testing her power over her fellow Shifter. She started singing:

 _"A domesticated girl, that's all you ask of me  
Darling it is no joke, this is lycanthropy  
The moon's awake now with eyes wide open  
My body's craving, so feed the hungry"_

Now she had his attention. Shivering with some emotion she couldn't make out, Ziva noticed Tony was looking at her with more intensity than he was that afternoon. Meeting his gaze, Ziva found she couldn't look away, and her body reacted with a jerk of awareness. Honestly, she didn't know why she wanted to kiss him so badly. Or maybe she did: the call of the wild. His heated eyes rested on her lips as if maybe he was thinking along the same lines.

To distract themselves, Ziva started singing along again, only this time she began twining herself around her partner.

 _"Sitting at a bar, staring right at her prey  
It's going well so far, she's gonna get her way  
Nocturnal creatures are not so prudent  
The moon's my teacher and I'm her student"_

She felt a teasing grin easing across her face as she tormented him. Then her gaze fell on a familiar face in the sea of dancing bodies. "What's Chris Nixon doing here?" she hissed in Tony's ear.

DiNozzo whirled around, eyes bulging out as he saw Nixon staring right at them. "Maybe he's following us around," the senior field agent suggested, only half-joking.

"Why would he do that?"

"Halloween is next week. Let's just head out, okay, Zee-vah?"

"Sounds great to me."

~*~*~*~

Chris Nixon watched the two NCIS agents leave from where he was standing a few feet away. He'd been so close this time . . . Next time, there wouldn't be any mistakes. Besides, if these two were what he suspected they were, they wouldn't let him live. Nixon would just have to be more careful.

He followed the two of them and paused when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. In the dark alley, he made out the forms of two bodies. Warily, Chris moved forward to inspect the corpses. Even with his untrained eye, he could tell they hadn't been dead long. Then he saw the bitemarks on both men's throats. A smile of satisfaction crawled over his face.

"Soon," he murmured, "soon . . ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, I wonder what our little friend has planned. I'm actually having a lot of fun writing this. Besides, it helps keep the plot bunnies safe. Oh, and thanks to Davorah13 for giving me the idea of Tony and Ziva at the club . . . while "She-Wolf" is on . . .
> 
> Also thanks to Something Generic for coming up with the series' name.
> 
> To clear up any confusion on the mind-reading thing, Shifters in animal form can read other Shifters' thoughts even when the other Shifters might not be in animal form. True mates can read each other's thoughts at any time, but can turn it off when the other wants privacy.


	7. Chapter 7

Jeanne made it another block when she felt the limp in her leg fading. She kept flashing back to the alley and the wolves coming to her rescue. Horror filled her again at the realization that she'd been sleeping with a bloody werewolf. If it had ever been a full moon, she would have been in serious trouble. Looking up at the moon now, she saw it was a few days shy of being full. Okay, now she was in trouble. Apparently they could transform at will.

Again, Jeanne thought back to the two wolves in the alley. They'd been gorgeous but lethal at the same time. And somehow, the doctor knew the other one had been a she-wolf. Terrified as she was, Jeanne couldn't help admiring what they had, what they were. She still didn't want to see Tony, though. If he turned on her . . .

She wished she were home.

~*~*~*~

"So, Ziva, what do you want to do now?" asked Tony as they walked along the dark street. They had passed the alley and were nearing the cross-street.

Ziva started to reply, but ended up tasting the air as a tailwind sprung up, carrying with it the scent of death and Chris Nixon's own particular smell—wood, dust, and soap. Mostly soap. She halted and whispered harshly, "Tony, you were right. Chris is following us."

"Please tell me you're— Hang on, I think I've seen this movie."

"You're kidding me."

"No, I'm not. Haven't you ever seen _Teen Wolf_?"

"The movie or the TV series?"

"The movie. Wait a sec—they made it into a TV series?"

"Sure. Haven't you seen the previews while watching _Magnum P.I._?"

"Come to think of it—"

"Why are we even having this conversation? Shouldn't we be concentrating on the guy tailing us?"

"You're right. Time to loose the goose."

"What?" Ziva asked, confusion written all over her face.

"It's an idiom," Tony explained. "Lose the tail."

"I'm all for that." Spotting a side street to her left, Ziva added, "Follow me."

They swung onto the side street, which branched off onto other backstreets. Ziva tugged on Tony's arm as she dove into a street on the right, then took another turn to the left. Unfortunately, it was a dead end.

The footsteps sounded closer, then stopped, as if Nixon wasn't sure which way to go. Ziva backed up until she felt her back up against something—and it wasn't a wall. The two Shifters waited with baited breath, letting it out when they heard the footsteps recede, as if Chris was walking away.

"You enjoying yourself, Zee-vah?" Tony teased. She jumped; she hadn't realized that she was too close to him and her hands had reached back so she was holing him in place. The Israeli quickly snatched her hands away. Ignoring Tony's smirk, she rubbed her hands on her jeans, then ran a hand through her hair. "Let's get out of here. And for the record, Tony, I was _not_."

"Right," he said wryly before following his possible—okay, probable—mate.

Luckily, Chris was nowhere to be seen, but his scent lingered in the air. It stayed that way as both walked to their cars. Before Tony could climb in and drive off, Ziva said, "Tony, I think Chris found the bodies. I picked up their scent and it mingled with his. If he finds out what we are . . ."

"You think he killed our dead coke dealer-slash-murderer-slash-victim?"

"Well, Ducky did tell Gibbs she probably knew her killer and he _has_ been following us. I think he was watching us the day we interviewed him."

"This is just great," DiNozzo said sarcastically. "We're working a case on a murdered drug dealer—who the killer thought was a Sifter—while I'm also on an undercover assignment that looks blown, and, oh yeah, the guy our victim last had contact with is probably after us, seeing as he's guessed our secret! Did I miss anything?"

"No, that pretty much sums it up," said Ziva. "Let's talk about this tomorrow, Tony. Oh, try to talk to Jeanne while you're at it—just wait a while. That way this will seem like a bad dream."

He saluted her sarcastically before driving away in his Mustang. Ziva watched him until she could no longer see the red taillights, then drove home for some much-needed sleep.

~*~*~*~

Hours later, she was back at headquarters instead of taking the day off—like yesterday. Abby was waiting for Ziva at her desk, holding a Caf-Pow and Berry Mango Madness in each hand. The forensic scientist handed Ziva the Berry Mango Madness and took a drag on her Caf-Pow. "I found something," she said, setting the Caf-Pow down. "It's amazing how much stuff about werewolves there is on the Internet."

"Could you please not use the term 'werewolf'?" Ziva requested, wincing slightly. "I've heard they prefer the term shape-shifter. If you want to be all technical, call them lycanthropes."

"You seem to really take it personally."

"I read." Ziva shrugged, as if she wasn't bothered. "You were saying, Abby?"

"Oh, right. Anyway, seeing as the bullet that killed Phoebe was almost pure silver—and I'm guessing the knife was, too—and silver is used to kill werewo—er, sorry— _lycanthropes_ , our killer—and I think I know who it is, by the way—probably thought she was one. Although, she said she saw shape-shifters, so—"

"Abby, our dead coke dealer was not a Shifter. Besides, lycanthropes don't exist." It was the mantra Shifters were sworn to repeat. How else could they keep their existence a secret? "You said you found something?"

"Yep. We are finally able to read the emails on the petty officer's computer and I traced the knife wound in her throat. What are you going to be for Halloween, Ziva?"

"That's easy. A ninja," Tony said as he walked into the bullpen, McGee at his heels. "Me, I'm going as—"

"Yourself?" Gibbs suggested, turning the corner with his usual cup of a Marine's lifesaver in hand. "You're scary enough as it is."

DiNozzo shot death glares at McGee and Officer David as they covered their mouths with their hands, trying hard not to laugh. A warning growl rumbled in his throat, but only Ziva recognized it for what it was. To the others, it sounded like Tony was clearing his throat. He shut up when Abby, Gibbs, and McGemcity gave him odd looks, Gibbs and Abby's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Finally Gibbs barked out, "Back to work!"

"Yes, Boss," the team chorused, scampering to their desks. Abby skipped off to her lab, humming "Suffer the Little Children" under her breath. She then switched to another Pat Benatar song, "Hell Is For Children," the team shooting her looks that asked if she was still sane.

~*~*~*~

Dr. Jeanne Bentoit reached for the phone, then snatched her hand back. She knew she had to call Tony to see if last night had been a bad dream, but she couldn't quite bring herself to. There was no way it had actually happened . . . right? She hoped not, but the terror and revulsion had been so real . . .

Of course, she didn't believe in werewolves. They were just make-believe, right?

There was only one way to find out, she told herself with a shrug. Jeanne reached for the phone again, but was interrupted by a "Paging Dr. Bentoit. Dr. Bentoit to the lobby, please."

Well, it could always wait, she supposed.

~*~*~*~

 

Team Gibbs was once again assembled in Labby, listening to Abby prattling on while Whitesnake's "Still of the Night" was playing. Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva looked mildly interested, the latter two fighting to stay awake.

". . . I was able to find out what type of knife and gun were used to kill our dead drug dealer. The knife is aBowie, and I matched the murder weapon to a Glock. You find me one, and I can tell you if it was the murder weapon.

"That's good work, Abbs," Gibbs congratulated her as he handed the Goth a Caf-Pow. He then started to leave, along with the rest of the team, but Abby shut the door before they could take three steps. Puzzled, the four field agents looked back at the forensic scientist. Abby had her I-won't-take-no-for-an-answer face on, and Ziva had a sinking feeling she knew what it was about: Someone must have seen them shifting. A moment later, she told herself that was impossible; she hadn't smelled or heard anyone that shouldn't have been there. She could feel Tony's green eyes boring into her; without her knowing it her hand grasped for his.

"Metro PD found a couple of bodies in an alleyway at zero-five-hundred this morning. It was weird, guys. To the officer, it looked like they were attacked by either a dog or a wolf. Of course, they pulled footage from some stores and restaurants nearby and found this"—she tapped some keys on the keyboard and brought up said footage—"which I found interesting. Look familiar?"

Ziva tightened her hold on Tony's hand without realizing it. The images weren't very clear, since it was dark and across the street as well as at a bad angle, but she could make out the shadowy forms that were her and her partner. She thought frantically, _Please don't see us shift, please don't see us shift._

Thank God, the camera didn't pick up on them shifting, since Abby had stilled the image and was working her magic. Ziva slowly started backing away, taking Tony with her. She thought at him, _If we have to tell someone, we should tell Gibbs. He has a right to know and he won't tell._

 _Agreed,_ he replied, squeezing her hand even tighter, which made the Mossad liaison look down at their interlocked fingers. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she made no move to let go.

McGee leaned closer to the screen, eyes narrowed in concentration. Finally he blinked and said in surprise, "Isn't that Tony and Ziva?"

"Yeah, I think so," Abby confirmed. "That's also what Metro thought, which is why they sent it to me."

Gibbs fixed his agents with an icy glare. With steel in his voice, he ordered, "My office. Now."

As they walked to the elevator with their boss at their heels, Ziva could feel the former Marine's gaze fixed on her and Tony's joined hands. Her skin grew warm, and she had to let go, struggling not to feel any sense of loss. It was ridiculous; he was right next to her.

The doors closed behind the trio. As soon as it started to move, Gibbs flipped the switch and brought it to a grinding halt. Ziva forced her nerves to calm down as her boss gave bother her and DiNozzo a slow once-over. Finally, he snapped, "Would you two care to explain why you were at the crime scene minutes before the attacks?"

They remained silent.

Gibbs sighed and changed tactics. "Did you see anything, like, a couple of wolves, for instance?"

Ziva exchanged a glance with Tony. He nodded slightly, indicating that she should go first. She took a deep breath and plunged in. "Gibbs, you know Rule Number Four."

"Yeah," Gibbs said warily. "If you have a secret, the best thing is to keep it to yourself. Second best is to tell one other person. There is no third best. You're saying you have a secret?"

"Yes." Again, Ziva decided to take the plunge. She shifted her weight uncomfortable before adding,"We're not exactly human, Tony and I."

Whatever Gibbs had been expecting, that clearly wasn't it. Shock flared in his eyes and he flinched back. Ziva had to admire him even further when his voice didn't shake as he asked, "What are you, exactly?"

It was Tony who replied. "The technical term is lycanthrope, but we refer to ourselves as Shifters. People who don't know any better call us werewolves."

"So you guys were bitten at some point in your lives?"

Tony grinned. "No. It's dumb when they do that in movies. It is genetic. And before you ask, yes, that was us."

Ziva couldn't help thinking that their boss was taking all of this very well. The initial shock must have worn off. She just hoped he didn't have any silver on him.

Gibbs was silent for a few seconds before he said, "You're saying the two of you attacked and killed a couple of innocents."

"It wasn't like that," Ziva protested. "There were three of them and they were mugging a friend of Tony's. We had to shift to save her life!"

Her anger flared when Gibbs had a disbelieving look on his face. She let out a menacing snarl no human could hope to emanate, causing her boss to back up. It took a lot to frighten Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but right now fear shone in his ice-blue eyes. Still snarling, she took a step forward. Tony immediately slid between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. She relaxed as his familiar, comforting scent wreathed around her. If his hands that were currently resting on her shoulders brought her even closer and tilted her head up, their lips would meet and . . . What was she doing thinking of getting intimate with Tony in front of their team leader?

"Are you okay, Ziva?" DiNozzo asked, his green-gaze cautious yet concerned at the same time.

She nodded, her eyes still on his lips. Ziva quickly averted her gaze as Tony turned back to Gibbs. Her partner said in a low voice, "We'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this. According to our laws, we're not supposed to be telling any non-Shifter that our kind exists."

The former Marine nodded. "I understand. Now, back to theMadisoncase." He brought the power back on and opened the elevator doors.

"Yeah, about that," Tony began as he fell in behind the silver-haired fox, "we think we have a suspect. Thing is, he's our only suspect."

"Well, go pick him up, DiNozzo, and take David with you. McGee, with me."

Tim scrambled after his team leader, leaving Abby with all sorts of hits from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. As all four field agents entered the elevator, they could hear the strains of Pat Benatar's "Too Long A Soldier."

~*~*~*~

A little over an hour later, the two Shifters were once again at Chris Nixon's house. He opened the door when they knocked, fighting a yawn. "You two again," he said with a smirk. "You really must not have any suspects." Even though he sounded insolent, Ziva could tell he was wary of them. Tension was radiating off him in waves. She could also smell something else . . . an underlying tang . . . excitement, that was it.

"Well, actually," said Tony, "we were just wondering if you'd let us look around."

Chris hesitated before standing back and opening the door further, inviting the two Shifters in. They stepped inside, eyes searching for a possible murder weapon. While Ziva searched the kitchen (also known as the most dangerous room in the house), Tony asked Chris, "Do you have any guns?"

"Yeah. In my desk drawer. Why?"

But Tony was already heading towards the desk in the corner of the living room. His sensitive nose picked up the smell of a recently fired gun in the upper left drawer. Sliding it open, DiNozzo found a Glock nestled near the back. He looked up at Chris just as Ziva came in with a rusted Bowie knife in an evidence bag. "Is this registered?" he asked absentmindedly, sliding on latex gloves and picking up the Glock.

"Yeah," he repeated warily.

"We're going to bring you with us for questioning," said Ziva, subconsciously herding him toward the front door. Tony was doing the same until Chris was cornered, his back against the door.

He didn't seem to realize the danger he was in, because he leaned back, crossed his arms over his chest and said, "First, let me ask you something. Are you the werewolves I've been hearing about?"


	8. Chapter 8

Both Ziva and Tony tensed and froze. Tony found he was eyeing the guy's Adam's apple and quickly averted his eyes so he was looking at their suspect head-on. The senior field agent chose his words carefully, but when he opened his mouth, Nixon chuckled and shook his head. He crowed, "You should have seen your faces! You two looked at me like I was serious."

 _That's 'cause you were,_ Tony thought. He had a sneaking suspicion that the hazel-eyed blond was faking making fun of the situation. If anything, he was using their reactions to confirm what he guessed. DiNozzo had to hand it to him: the man sure could act. Tony shoved his concerns away and refocused on the task at hand. "As we said before, we're going to have to take you with us."

"Sure," Chris said with a shrug. "You know that evidence there is circumstantial, right?"

He shut up when both agents gave him withering glares. If Ziva had her knife on her, she would have pressed it up against his throat and enjoyed the fear in his eyes. As it was, she said, "Why don't you let us do our job," as she and DiNozzo ushered Chris out to the waiting Charger.

~*~*~*~

The team's two Shifters watched Nixon on the other side of the mirror from Observation, waiting for Gibbs to question him.

Nixon jumped as the interrogation room door opened and the silver-haired fox strode in, carrying a case file in one hand. He tossed it onto the table, following it with his body as he sat down in the chair facing their suspect. Chris fidgeted as the former Marine opened the file and drew out some crime scene photos, as well as one of the petty officer lying on one of Ducky's cold steel tables in the morgue.

"Petty Officer Phoebe Madison. You knew her well?"

He looked startled at the question, but answered, "Well, yeah. We were good friends."

"Do you have any idea who would want her dead?"

Chris shrugged. "She dealt cocaine and told me she took out a rival encroaching on her turf. Maybe it was another dealer."

"Maybe, but I don't think so. You were the last person she had contact with right before she was killed."

"Not counting your agents," Nixon muttered under his breath.

Gibbs heard him, apparently, ignored the jab, and slid the photos in front of the twenty-one-year-old's face. Ziva noticed with some satisfaction that he flinched and averted his gaze.

Tony whispered, "Bet you ten bucks he's gonna lawyer up."

"Five more says he's gonna do it in five seconds."

"I want my lawyer," Chris said five seconds later.

Tony sighed and handed the fifteen dollars over to a smirking Ziva as Gibbs told the man sitting across from him, "You have something to hide?"

When Nixon stared mutely ahead, Gibbs went on, "In my experience, innocent people don't need a lawyer. But if you want one"—he shrugged—"go ahead. I'm not stopping you. Besides, we're not interrogating you."

"Yeah, right," Ziva muttered as Tony snorted and said, "Since when is Gibbs doing the good cop, bad cop routine?"

"Oh, I guess that makes you the bad cop?" Ziva asked, hating herself when she felt her beast suddenly calling to his. She wanted to shift into her other form so bad, but knew she couldn't do it her in Observation or even in the building. The same went for making out. Geez, where were these thoughts coming from? And it wasn't even lunchtime yet!

The Israeli became aware of a beeping noise coming from Tony's cell, informing him that he had a new text message. He flipped it open to read it, and with her keen vision, Ziva was able to do the same over his shoulder. It read: Need 2 C U. Jeanne. Immediately Tony snapped his phone shut. Ziva was pretty sure she knew what all that was about last night. Jeanne wanted confirmation that Tony couldn't become a wolf at will—or that he could.

Last night, before he'd shifted with a smooth, powerful ripple into a wolf, Ziva had noticed an ink on his left shoulder. According to tradition, when a Shifter male found his mate, he had her name inked onto his shoulder in the ancient language of the pack. If she rejected him, he still had to bear the name of his first choice and go it alone. For some reason, Ziva hoped she was his choice instead of Jeanne.

The door to observation opened, and both Abby and Tim stuck their heads in. Abby asked, "Where is Gibbs?"

"In Interrogation," Tony replied. "Why?"

"We ran ballistics and the fingerprints on the Glock and knife you guys brought in. They were the murder weapons, but the prints didn't match Nixon. Someone else killed our drug dealer."

"There's more," McGee added. "We received a call from the Rangers at Rock Creek Park. They found another body."

Ziva said, "Yeah. So?"

"So," McGee said, "the MO was the same as the one for Petty Officer Madison. And it's fresh."

The two Shifters exchanged a glance before Tony said both their thoughts out loud, "He didn't do it."

"You wanna be the one who tells Gibbs?" Ziva asked him. "'Cause I'm not."

All three of them looked at McGee, who paled. "No! I am not—"

"Sorry, but I'm pulling rank," Tony said, "and the girls here don't want to risk the wrath of Gibbs." Even though Ziva in wolf form could easily rip out his throat—and neither of them wanted that to happen.

Sensing resistance was futile, Tim sighed and hung his head in defeat before heading out. Seconds later, the interrogation room door opened and Elf Lord's head poked inside. He told Gibbs that they needed to tell him something and the ex-Marine, looking irritable, followed McGee back into Observation.

"This better be good," he growled. "You're breaking Rule Twenty-Two."

Ziva mentally translated that into "Never, ever interrupt Gibbs in Interrogation."

Tony apologized, "Look, we're sorry, but Abby and McGee found something important."

"Gibbs, he didn't kill our petty officer," said Abby. "RockCreekParkRangers just found a fresh body. The MO matched, and the fingerprints on the knife and Glock don't match Chris."

Gibbs nodded and started walking out. "I knew that," he called over his shoulder before leaving.

The other four spoke in unison: "Oh."


	9. Chapter 9

After Gibbs cut Nixon loose, the team was on the road again, Ducky and Palmer on their six. As Gibbs sped along the road, both Shifters noticed McGee was trying not to puke. Finally, Gibbs noticed and pulled over, immediately sending the car to a skidding halt.

The probie leaped out and hurried into nearby bushes, where Tony and Ziva could hear him spewing chunks. A minute later, they were on their way, a pale-faced McGee in back.

When they arrived at the entrance to the park some time later, Elf Lord hit the ground as if he never planned to let go. He instantly scrambled to his feet as a park ranger came over.

"I'm Tom Henderson. Which one of you is Special Agent Gibbs?"

If this was a wolf pack, Tony thought with an amused snort, he, Ziva, and McGee would be well behind Gibbs with ears and tail lowered while Gibbs would be standing in a dominant posture: ears forward, head up, tail lifted. Although two of them could become wolves in shape, there were differences from Shifters and the true wolf. For one thing, they were larger than normal wolves.

The ranger's head swung in his direction. "Are you Gibbs?"

"Oh, no," Tony said. "I'm Special Agent DiNozzo. _That_ is Agent Gibbs." He pointed to his boss, who didn't look too thrilled at being singled out. However, as typical of the Bossman, what he said was, "Where's the body?"

Henderson sighed and said, "Follow me." He headed into the woods with Team Gibbs and Ducky and his assistant—who had just arrived due to Palmer mixing up directions _again_ —hot on his trail. Tony began to have a bad feeling about this case as they hiked through the woods.

As it turned out, he was right.

 _I hate Halloween._

~*~*~*~

 

The victim, as it turned out, was a former Marine. DiNozzo stepped closer to the body, which was on the floor of an abandoned cabin, and caught a whiff of a familiar scent. This particular scent belonged to a Shifter, and one the team had dealt with on an irregular basis: Trent Kort. Tony could also smell another Shifter, but the scents were a few hours old. He glanced at Ziva and asked quietly, "Do you smell that?"

He could see her nostrils flare as she scented the air. "Yes," she replied, "I do."

"Do what?" Gibbs and McGee asked, looking at the two Shifters. Ducky also looked up from where he was examining the body. Palmer, being Palmer, continued looking over the corpse, completely ignoring everyone else.

Thinking fast, Tony ad-libbed, "Uh, well, we think there was someone—two someones—here—and they weren't the killer."

"How can you tell?" McGee asked.

Wincing, Ziva offered, "The smells in the air?"

Tim sniffed, and then gagged. "All I smell is that dead body."

Gibbs gave Tony and Ziva a long, measured look before grabbing them by the arm and pulling them aside, out of the others' earshot. Releasing his two Shifters, he growled, "Is there something you're not telling me about your abilities?"

Ziva's look told Tony to speak now or forever hold his peace. "Well, all our senses are heightened, and we have fast reflexes and loads of stamina." He shifted his weight before adding, "Say we were attacked. In human form, we'd just think about beating the guy up, but in wolf form, we'd probably rip out their throats. Ziva would do that in human form anyway."

She glared at him and when Tony next spoke, his voice was several octaves higher. "Ow." Gibbs winced visibly, knowing full well the damage Ziva—or anyone—could cause, kicking someone in that sensitive spot.

"Hey, Boss," McGee called, "we've got something."

The awkward moment was thankfully ruined, and the three of them returned to the crime scene, where McGee was crouched over. He straightened up and showed them a tuft of black fur. "How'd this get in here?"

Tony shot a warning look at Ziva, whose returning glare told him that she wasn't dumb enough to tell McGeek their secret. With a shrug, he lied, "Maybe it was someone's dog or a rat."

Tim looked doubtful, but bagged it anyway, missing the death glare Gibbs shot his senior field agent and Mossad liaison.

"Uh, can I go now?" Henderson asked, making the team's two geeks jump with surprise.

Gibbs jerked his thumb in the ranger's direction. "You know you're free to go. Out. Now." A few seconds later, he asked, "Duck, you have a time of death yet?"

Ducky extracted the liver probe, checked it, and said, "He's been dead for at least two and a half hours, Jethro."

DiNozzo started to turn and ask Probie something when a flash of black and auburn fur outside one of the windows caught his eye. He motioned to Ziva and stepped out of the cabin, his partner on his trail.

A few feet away, Trent Kort himself stepped out of the trees in human form and fully clothed. Beside him was a young woman who looked to be around twenty-nine with reddish-brown hair and hazel-green eyes. And from what Tony could tell from her scent, she was the other Shifter he'd smelled earlier.

Ziva strode forward until she was up in Kort's face. "What are you doing here?" she growled. "This is _our_ territory."

"And who's your friend?" The words slipped out of Tony's mouth before he could stop them.

The woman narrowed her eyes at DiNozzo. "Meghan Volkov, CIA. And you're, let me guess, NCIS Special Agent DiNozzo." There was Russia in her voice.

"How'd you guess?"

"Well, the fact that you're wearing a NCIS cap and jacket and Kort here has your name and face burned into my memory probably had something to do with it."

Kort silenced her with a look—which, if anyone else had tried it, probably wouldn't have worked—and answered Ziva's question. "We had intel that a few humans have . . . become aware of our existence after—"

Meghan rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly, he's hopeless. Basically, a Shifter who refuses to be named told a Static that we exist. We're trying to find him and hopefully kill him."

"Funny you should say that," DiNozzo snorted. "We've had two Statics murdered, who the killer thought were Shifters. Anyone else confused? Although, this does remind me of _The Wolfman_ —"

He shut up when Ziva Gibbs-slapped him. DiNozzo rounded on her, fully ready to deliver a stinging remark, but paused when he saw something in her eyes urging him not to say anything.

"Hey, you two!"

At the sound of Gibbs' voice, Kort and Volkov faded into the trees. Tony turned and saw the Bossman standing in the cabin doorway, an expectant look on his face. "You planning on staying here for the rest of the day, or do you want to go back with us?"

Glancing back through the trees, Tony saw two wolves—one black with white paws, the other a reddish-brown—trotting away. He shrugged and walked toward Gibbs, who ducked back inside. Right as they reached the doorway, McGee, Ducky, Palmer, and Company headed out. Sharing a slightly amused look with Ziva, Tony followed.

It didn't occur to him until they were well on their way back to the Navy Yard that neither him nor Ziva had asked the two CIA Shifters if they'd seen anything that could help them with the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for making Kort a Shifter goes to my wonderful co-author on _Karaoke Night_ , Valkyrie-chick (DocRoesgirl on here). Meghan Volkov is also based on her, since she asked if she could be in my story. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I suggest listening to "Still of the Night" when you get to the lyrics. Now, enjoy!

Back at the office, the team was once again at their desks. Abby was analyzing the tuft of fur that McGee had found, even though Tony knew it would be a match to Kort in his wolf form. Besides, there didn't seem to be a whole lot to do on the Madisoncase . . . and he _did_ have to see Jeanne. . . .

He stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Cover for me, will you, Ziva?" Luckily, Gibbs was refilling his coffee cup and McGee had just left to take a leak—or so Tony assumed.

"Uh, sure," she replied. By then, Tony was on his way out of the building via the elevator. At least a half hour later, he was knocking on the door of Jeanne's apartment and back in the game as his cover.

Jeanne's face peered warily at him from the slightly-opened door. "Yes?"

"You did want to see me, did you not? Jeanne, what's wrong?"

Sighing, she opened the door further and stepped back, inviting him in. It didn't take long before she asked what had been on her mind all day: "Tony, was any of what happened last night real?"

 _Wow. That was rather blunt and to the point. Now, how do answer . . ._ "Uh, well," he started, but was interrupted by Jeanne's relieved look. "So it _wasn't_ real?"

"Uh, actually, I hate to burst your bubble, but . . ."

Her green eyes widened in horror. "Oh, God. You really can turn into a wolf." She rapidly moved away from him.

"Jeanne, I had to shift to save your life!"

It didn't appear that she was comprehending what he was saying. Clearly, the PTSD was kicking in—that, or she just couldn't believe it.

"That other one was a she-wolf, wasn't it?"

Tony was surprised by the question. He met her gaze and instead ended up looking past her at the dark windows. Startled, he looked at his watch and saw it was seven o'clock at night. Had he really spent all afternoon at his desk? It sure didn't feel like it. Then again, everything about this case had him on edge.

"Tony." Jeanne's voice was sharp. "Answer me!"

DiNozzo forced his mouth to move. "Yes, she was. Why do you want to know?"

She refused to answer. When she finally spoke, her voice was low. "Get out, Tony." Before he could even protest, she was ushering him out of her apartment. The door slammed shut in his face when he turned back to look at her, gauge how she was taking this. Not well, obviously.

When Tony made it back on the streets, a figure was leaning against his car. Its features were distorted since it was hidden in shadows. However, this person's scent and his night vision made it easy for him to identify it.

"What are you doing here, Ziva?"

His partner relaxed her position and took a few steps closer to him. "I was looking for you. It actually makes sense, what Kort and Meghan said, and I figured it wasn't safe to travel alone at night."

"Ziva, how did you get here?"

"I ran."

He knew without asking that she'd shifted to do it. "Are you crazy?! What if someone saw you?"

"No one did." She shrugged. "Besides, you know how poor Statics' night vision is. You hungry?"

"Not particularly."

Ziva went around to the driver's side door and opened it. "Come on, then. I'm driving you home."

"Correction," Tony said as he slid inside his Mustang, " _I_ am driving _you_ home. Besides, I don't want you wrecking my 'Stang."

She rolled her eyes and went around to the shotgun seat. Before her door was even shut all the way, Tony's Mustang had pulled out of its parking spot and was on the road. The Mossad liaison shut it, buckled up, and glared at him. "Don't ever do that again."

"Of course not," the movie buff replied with a smirk.

~*~*~*~

From the dark shadows of an alley, two figures watched the two NCIS Shifters. One looked at the other and ordered, "Follow them, but stay out of sight."

His companion nodded and took off on a motorbike, grumbling, "How often have we gone over this?"

Once the taillight was a small red dot in the distance, the boss melted into the shadows, watching, waiting . . .

~*~*~*~

After ten minutes of silence, Ziva suddenly switched on the radio. Tony had left it on the classic rock station, and the opening notes of a Whitesnake hit filled the Mustang.

 _Oh no,_ Tony thought, mentally cringing.

 _In the still of the night  
I hear the wolf howl, honey  
Sniffing around your door  
In the still of the night  
I feel my heart beating heavy  
Telling me I gotta have more_

 _In the shadow of the night  
I see the full moon rise  
Telling me what's in store  
My heart starts aching  
My body started shaking  
And I can't take no more_

 _No, no_

 _Now I just wanna get close to you  
And taste your love so sweet  
And I just wanna make love to you  
Feel your body heat_

 _In the still of the night  
In the still of the night  
Over here baby_

DiNozzo was uncomfortably aware of Ziva's brown gaze boring into him. She warned, "Don't even think about it, Tony."

But how could he not? After all, it wasn't Jeanne's name inked in ancient letters on his back.

Not that Ziva knew.

 _In the heat of the day  
I hang my head down low  
And hide my face from the sun  
Through the light of the day  
Until the evening time  
I'm waiting for the night to come_

 _Ooh baby_

 _In the still of the night  
In the cool moonlight  
I feel my heart is aching  
In the still of the night_

"Abby was playing this song earlier, was she not?" Ziva asked suddenly.

"Yeah, but come on, it's not like the radio station knew that." Tony suddenly became aware of a single headlight in the rearview mirror that had been there for a few minutes. "Hang on, Zi. We're being followed."

He instantly swung left onto a side street. The motorbike followed. Tony finally lost it after a few more turns and shooting back out onto the main street. All the while, "Still of the Night" kept playing. It wasn't as if the radio station knew they were being tailed, after all.

 _Ooh, baby  
Ooh, Lord  
I can't keep away  
Need to be closer_

 _I can't keep away  
Can't keep away  
Can't keep away  
I can't keep away, no_

 _You gotta give me love  
Got to give me some loving everyday  
Can't keep away_

 _Ooh, baby  
Ooh, Lord  
Ahh_

 _Tell me here, baby_

Without warning, pain erupted on his right shoulder. "What was that for?" he hissed, turning to Ziva. The Mossad liaison was glaring at him. "Get your mind out of the gutter, DiNozzo!" she growled.

"Will you quit reading my mind?" Tony made a mental note to dampen his thoughts whenever his partner was around. There was no telling what she'd do if she knew everything that went on in his head.

 _In the still of the night  
I hear the wolf howl, honey  
Sniffing around your door  
In the still of the night  
I feel my heart beating heavy  
Telling me I gotta have more_

 _Ooh! Mama_

 _Now I just wanna get close to you  
And taste your love so sweet  
And I just wanna make love to you  
Feel your body heat_

 _In the still of the night  
Oh, yeah  
In the still of the night  
I will be sneaking 'round your door_

He could tell Ziva was growing nervous . . . of him, maybe? That was crazy; he wouldn't intentionally do anything to hut her! Besides, she would definitely have him down on the floor, bleeding, in three seconds flat, in either this form or her wolf one.

It wasn't like he wanted to do what the song said anyway . . . right?

 _In the still of the night  
In the still of the night  
Ain't nothing gonna stop me now_

 _Still of the night  
Still of the night  
Still of the night_

 _Still of the night  
Still of the night  
Still of the night_

 _Still of the night  
Still of the night  
Still of the night_

Another song came on after that—something by Van Halen—but Tony wasn't really paying attention. He was much more focused on Ziva: her scent, the Israeli accent that became more pronounced whenever she was upset about something, her underneath him on their undercover mission last year . . . okay, now he was stepping into forbidden territory. She would kill him is she found out how he secretly felt about her . . . unless she felt the same way . . .?

"Tony, you can pull up here. We're at my apartment building," Ziva said, bringing him back.

The senior field agent stopped the Mustang, watching his partner as she climbed out. "You want me to walk you in?" he asked before he lost his nerve.

A startled look flashed briefly across her face before she replied with a slight smile, "Sure. I'd like that, I guess."

As they walked up the steps, neither of them were aware of the black-clad person hiding in the deep shadows, snapping photos, one after the other. When Tony drove off in his Mustang, the man snapped a photo of the license plate before fading away. His employer and friend was going to be pleased, he thought as he drove off.

What he failed to notice were CIA Agents Trent Kort and Meghan Volkov, who were in human form at the moment and watching him from an unmarked car. They silently followed the man as he drove through the dark streets on the same bike that had been tailing their NCIS counterparts.


	11. Chapter 11

Ziva tossed and turned in her bed for what seemed like hours, trying to go to sleep. It wouldn't come, and besides, there was something nagging at the back of her mind, something important . . . The frustrating thing was that she couldn't figure it out, and the more she tried, the more it slipped out of reach, like tantalizing scraps of information that were deliberately being withheld. It was irritating, to say the least.

Finally Ziva gave up trying to sleep and padded into the living room on silent feet to grab her laptop. Sliding back under the covers, she fired up the Mac and, opening a new Word document, started typing up her notes and observations on the Phoebe Madison case. Ziva had almost finished the notes on Chris Nixon when it occurred to her that they hadn't run a background check on him yet. Then there was the call, what he'd said to her and Tony—"So, are you the werewolves I've been hearing about?"—and what Trent Kort and the Russian Shifter, Meghan Volkov, had told her and her partner: that a Shifter had revealed their existence to Statics. From the beginning, Ziva and Tony had suspected the killer thought their victims—the petty officer and now this former Marine—were Shifters. Why else the silver weapons unless he'd known of their existence. Ducky had also said Phoebe Madison had a tattoo that meant "werewolf" in French— _loup-garou_. The Israeli was willing to bet their latest vic had the same tat on his arm. She hurriedly typed her train of thought as it popped into her head, saved the document, and shut down the Mac. Sleep came at last, and she gratefully sank beneath the black wave.

~*~*~*~

The next morning, Monday, Ziva headed into work after her daily run. It was October 31st—Halloween—and she realized that she didn't have anything to wear for that night—unless there was yet another case, of course. Although, when you could transform into a wolf, there wasn't really any need to dress up.

She suddenly tensed, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling, telling her she was being watched. Ziva turned—and found herself face-to-face with DiNozzo, McGee on his tail. Both men started and stepped back, Tim biting back a curse when Tony accidentally stepped on his foot. Tony immediately apologized, calling the probie McKlutz in the process. Timothy glared at him anyway and sat down at his desk.

When Tony sat down, propping his feet up on his desk and lacing his fingers behind his head, Ziva ambled over, looking down at him. "Tony, did you ever run a background check on Nixon?"

He Gibbs-slapped himself. "No. What with everything else going on, it slipped my mind. McGoogle!"

McGee's head shot up from where he was working on what Ziva figured was a book, judging from the binder and how much of the papers had McGeek's handwriting. "Tony, I am not doing a background check for you."

A low growl rumbled in his throat, instantly causing McGee to change tactics. "Okay, okay! I'm on it!" He started typing and clicking the mouse furiously. A very smug DiNozzo leaned back again, smirking. It vanished when he took in Ziva's concerned look. "What?"

She leaned in close, her concern giving way to anger. "Idiot! What if everyone else found out what we are? How do you think they'd react if they knew we'd lied to them this whole time? Like the way Jeanne did? She's scared of you now and never wants to see you!"

"Or she wants to become one of us," Tony said so softly Ziva wasn't sure she'd heard him properly. She said sharply, "Say that again."

He repeated himself, then shook his head wearily. "I don't know what made me say that, but there was this sort of look in her eyes when I saw her last night." He smiled slightly. "Our healing properties are miraculous. She saw for herself how quickly we heal, remember."

"Don't remind me." Ziva winced mentally, her body remembering all the injuries, even if her mind didn't. They saw Elf Lord's curious glance in their direction at the same time. Tony snapped, "What is it, Probie-san?"

"I have that background check for you, Tony. Where's Gibbs?"

"Right behind you, McGee," the silver-haired ex-sniper said from behind the computer geek. "Nice work, although, DiNozzo, shouldn't you have done that?" Clearly, finding out that two of his agents weren't entirely human hadn't changed how he thought of their work efforts or themselves in general. At the trapped look on her partner's face, Ziva had to hide a smirk. She snapped to attention when Gibbs prodded, "McGee, the background check."

"Oh, right." Keys tapped, and Nixon's driver's license appeared once more on the plasma along with McGee's hastily complied background check, a resume included. "He currently works as a sub at a local high school."

Tony snorted, "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"The fact that he has a job?" McGee asked.

"No, the fact that he wanted to be a teacher," Tony said. "He wasn't all that friendly when we met him." What he didn't say, Ziva figured, was that his job put him in contact with possible Shifters, since the first transformation occurred at age seventeen for girls, age eighteen for guys. This was not good at all. She hoped Kort and Volkov were making progress on their end. If not . . .

Already Ziva could tell it was going to be a long Halloween.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this one is my favorite so far, especially since I parodied a scene in _"O" is for Outlaw_ by Sue Grafton. For those of you who've read the book, I think you know which chapter it's in. =D There are also a couple of _Lion King_ references, as Tony notices in the beginning of this chapter. Enjoy!

So, you were saying," Gibbs prompted McGee, snapping the team's two Shifters out of their morbid thoughts.

"Oh, right. There's no criminal record—unless you count him being friends with a drug dealer—but here's something: He has ties to the arms dealer La Grenuoille."

"Thanks for the information, McGee," a soft voice laced with a British accent said from behind Ziva. The team whirled around to find themselves face-to-face with Kort and his Russian friend.

"Kort," Ziva said.

"Volkov," said Tony, dipping his head to the she-wolf.

"DiNozzo." Her hazel-green eyes were cold.

"David," the British CIA agent finished.

"Gibbs, McGee," Leroy Jethro Gibbs said. "Now that we all know each other, get out of our house."

McGee looked confused. "You know them, they know you, and they need information on one of our cases," he said to Ziva and Tony, "and everyone's okay with this? Did I miss something?"

All Tony could think of to say was, "Nice _Lion King_ reference, Probie."

"Shut up, Tony."

Ziva quickly soothed, "Relax, McGee. They're working our case from another angle."

Gibbs's eyes were frosty and swiftly turning to ice. "And no one mentioned this to me earlier?"

DiNozzo threw up his hands in a defensive posture. "Don't look at us like that, Boss. We just found out about it yesterday."

Meghan prompted, "About the case—"

Elf Lord scanned the background check again. "About the whole tie to The Frog, his friend is . . . uh . . . Ethan Keane. He's Nixon's old college roommate and is now apparently an ATF agent." McGee was referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

"No kidding," Tony and Meghan said in disbelief. The four Shifters exchanged meaningful glances—although Tony thought Ziva and Meghan were each warning the other away from her partner. "Once you two are done being all alpha-female," he muttered.

Both women glared and punched his shoulder in unison. Tony slightly whimpered, forcing it down when McGee and Gibbs stared at the four of them. "What was _that_ all about?" the team leader demanded.

"Uh . . ." None of them had an answer. Gibbs just narrowed his eyes before turning back to Probie-Wan-Kenobi. "You have an image of this Ethan Keane?"

Seconds later, his ID was up on the plasma. He had black hair that curled down around his ears and ended just where his neck met his shoulders. Keane's eyes were the color of clover, and with his deep tan, they really stood out. Worse, though, Tony sensed this guy was a Shifter.

 _Crap._

Quietly, Kort said, "That's him."

"You're sure?" Ziva asked, just as softly.

"Yes."

 _Well, this is just great._ Aloud, DiNozzo said, "You have an address, Probie?"

"Yeah. He lives in Fairfax." McGee scribbled down the address and handed it to Ziva, while Gibbs said, "Ziva, take DiNozzo and head out there. You two"—he motioned at the two CIA agents—"with me. McGee, see what else you can dig up on Ethan Keane or Chris Nixon."

"On it, Boss," the team chorused.

Walking toward the elevator with Ziva, Tony commented, "This is going to be fun."

She laughed. "I thought you hated Halloween."

"I do."

Thankfully, she left it at that, and a little over an hour or so later they were pulling up at the alleged ATF agent's house. As luck would have it, he wasn't home. There was no telling how long he'd been or would be gone, so, of course, the obvious thing to do was a little B&E and search the place. Tony voted for the front door, while Ziva took the back.

Within seconds, Tony was inside and on his way to see how Ziva was doing. He walked into the kitchen and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing: Ziva was attempting to crawl through the doggie door. She'd made it halfway and was now apparently stuck.

She glanced up at him and scowled. "Bite your tongue."

"I am."

Ziva wiggled around, trying to gain more entrance, and froze, every muscle tense. Tony strained his ears and heard the click-click of nails on the linoleum. For the first time, he saw two bowls on the floor near the counter, half full with water and dog food. Well, dang. Where was the dog when they'd rung the doorbell? The dog padded into view just then. Now, Tony really couldn't tell one breed from another, unless it was a Chihuahua, golden retriever, Great Dane, poodle, German shepherd, or other obvious breeds. It obviously must have heard the noise and come plodding down the hallway and around the corner to see what was going on. This canine looked like it weighed about fifty pounds, was maybe 22 inches, and for all appearances looked like a wolf. Its medium-length fur was red along the back and sides and white on the legs, paws, face, and underbelly, with one blue eye, one brown. Why couldn't it have barked a warning when it first heard the bell? As it was, it skidded to a halt. Tony could almost see the question mark appearing above it as it cocked its head, a perfect mixture of incredulity and confusion on its face. This gave Tony and Ziva opportunity to determine its gender (it was a girl, as it turned out). Apparently, in her experience, very few humans had attempted to slither through her personal entrance. Ziva and Tony weren't exactly human, but it didn't really matter at the moment, especially since the dog was now crawling on her belly to Ziva. Obviously, this required something in the way of nice manners on the dog's part. She was whining softly, making no move to bite either of them, and currently almost in the Mossad officer's face. DiNozzo figured the no-attacking bit was because that, as Shifters, they smelled like wild animals. Ziva and the dog lay there face-to-face for a while, the Shifter propping herself up on her elbows.

"Well, hi," she said at last, obviously talking to what Tony finally identified as a Siberian Husky. Hopefully, from the canine's perspective, it was a pleasant and friendly tone of voice.

The husky laid her head on her paws and shot Tony a worried look. He was still trying not to laugh. What? The whole situation was ridiculous!

"Sorry to barge in on you like this," Ziva was saying to the dog, "but I have to get all the way in."

"Otherwise the neighbors will see your hind end sticking out of a doggie door," Tony put in, his voice full of suppressed laughter.

"Shut up, DiNozzo." Ziva then wiggled her way in further, making all sorts of kiss-up phrases to the dog. When she was all the way through, she started to rise to her feet. This didn't bode well with the Sibe. She drew her lips back to show her teeth and growled. Ziva dropped to all fours again, then slowly tried rising. Again the dog growled. Tony heard her tell the Siberian, "You're very strict, you know that?" Not that the dog cared.

Finally, both Shifters had had enough. Ziva managed to stand up while Toy took care of the dog. While he was putting her in the bathroom, the Siberian wagged her tail and tried to jump up and give him the canine version of kisses. In response, he literally growled at her, shut the door, and went to help Ziva search.

There was nothing of value in the kitchen, so Tony decided to take the den while Ziva searched the living room. A quick visual scan revealed nothing, and it wasn't likely what they were looking for would be in plain sight. That would just be too easy. God forbid their job ever be easy.

Tony crossed the room to the desk, snapped on latex gloves, and started rifling through the drawers, hoping to find some connection to Nixon or something that showed they'd been in contact recently. He hit pay dirt when he opened the bottom left drawer. Inside were a bunch of printed emails between the two. DiNozzo lifted the stack of papers out and set it on top of the desk. A brief in-depth search revealed nothing else, so he headed into the living room to check on Ziva.

"You find anything?"

"No, not yet," she said from where she was crouched along the window wall, running her fingers along it. That turned up fruitless, so she moved on to the corner bookcase. Tony watched from the doorway as she skimmed her hands along the spines. Finally she pulled out a slim volume with a black leather cover and silver lettering. She had just opened it to the first page when DiNozzo heard the crunch of car tires on gravel and the engine stalling.

Ziva snapped the book shut, slid it into place on the shelf, and hurried to the doorway. Together they bolted for the garage door, but skidded to a halt when the doorknob started to turn. They were trapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun, dunnnn. Cliffhanger! I love those, don't you?
> 
> Review, please. They make my day.
> 
> ~~ Brambleshadow


	13. Chapter 13

Before Tony could so much as think _We're so dead,_ Ziva grabbed his arm and yanked him back away from the door. Numbly, he followed her to the bathroom where they'd stashed the dog. Ziva opened the door and let the Siberian out before pulling Tony in with her. The door clicked shut behind them.

Tony's sharp hearing was focused on the Sibe as it pranced around, letting her master know there was game afoot. This wasn't good.

"Help me, Tony," Ziva hissed from the bathroom window. She was having trouble opening it, seeing as it was dusty and hadn't been used a whole lot. Still, DiNozzo went over to help her. Together they forced the window open and Ziva went through first, landing lightly on the lawn outside. Tony handed her the stack of emails before climbing out himself. Once his feet hit the ground, he took of racing for the Charger. Ziva was right behind him. As they hopped in the car, Tony allowed himself a breath of relief. "That was a close one."

"If he's a Shifter, he's going to know we were there," Ziva said.

 _Thanks, Ms. Killjoy,_ Tony thought sarcastically.

"I heard that."

He chose not to dignify that with a response and pulled out of his parking spot. They made the drive in silence except for Focus's "Hocus Pocus" and then the Eagles' "Hotel California."

~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Gibbs was staring down the two CIA Shifters. Neither of them was backing down (a fact Meghan was proud of), but Kort was fidgeting a bit. Finally the NCIS Special Agent asked, "Well?"

"Uh, I'll leave you to answer that," Kort said to Meghan. "I'm going to . . . um . . . go get a biscuit." He took off, leaving Meghan with the infamous Gibbs.

He looked at her blankly. "Biscuit?"

"A British word for cookie," she explained.

"Is he always like this?"

Volkov knew he was referring to Kort and inwardly bristled. She hated it when people bad-mouthed her mate. **(Oh, yeah, I went there. Let's just say he's in his early thirties.)** Gibbs was still waiting for an answer, so she shrugged and said, "Yeah, pretty much. But then, you've dealt with him before, haven't you?"

"On an irregular basis, and they haven't been the most friendly of occasions. Are the two of you like Tony and Ziva?"

She tensed, swearing inside her head. "What do you mean?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "A Shifter. Do I have to lay it out for you?"

"Yes," she admitted after a pause, "but how do you know about us?"

"Two of my agents told me."

Meghan's hazel-green eyes narrowed. "Speaking of Tony and Ziva, are they mates yet?"

Gibbs almost spewed his coffee. "Say what?"

She quickly backtracked. "Forget I said anything. It's just that they seem really close—closer than most partners—and I thought—"

He cut her babbling short. "They wouldn't break Rule Number Twelve."

"What's Rule Number Twelve?"

"I have a list of rules I live by. Rule Twelve is Never date a co-worker."

"Hhm-mmm." _Not that they're gonna let that stop them if they are gonna be mates,_ Meghan thought. It wasn't like they could separate the wolf from the human; they weren't separate beings. If and when the wolf called . . . well, they might not be able to resist.

Kort returned from the vending machines. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing," Meghan and Gibbs said at the same time. Gibbs then started walking back to the bullpen, jerking his head to make them follow. The Russian CIA agent had a feeling he'd do well as a Shifter and would probably be a pack leader. Too bad he was a Static. She thought he'd make a handsome wolf, with a silver coat and ice-blue eyes.

"What exactly are you two doing here? You never answered my earlier question," Gibbs said at last, meeting their gazes again.

Meghan answered, "What Ziva said earlier. And no one told you because it's none of your concern, seeing as it's Shifter business." Thank God McGee was with Abby and they could talk freely.

The team leader's eyes narrowed but before he could say anything, Tony and Ziva walked in. They had an evidence box and Ziva looked like she'd been Dumpster diving or something. Her clothes were rumpled, she smelled like dog, and there were grass and dirt stains on her pant knees.

"God, what happened to you?" The words slipped out of Meghan's mouth before she could hold them back.

Ziva gave her fellow she-wolf a dark look but didn't reply. Tony answered for her. "We ran into a bit of trouble at Keane's house, but it was nothing we couldn't handle."

His partner said, "We—or Tony, rather," she added when DiNozzo gave her a look, "found a lot of printed out emails between our two suspects."

"Good," Gibbs said. "Go through 'em and see if you can find anything to help our case. I gotta go see Ducky." He was gone before Tony or Ziva could so much as say, "Yes, Boss."

Exchanging a glance with Kort, Meghan walked over to Ziva while the Brit stood by Tony's desk. "You need our help?"

In response, Ziva divided the stack into fourths and handed three-fourths of it to the other three Shifters.

After ten minutes of reading, Tony jumped up, snatched the page he'd been reading, and bolted. "Gibbs has to see this."

The others exchanged looks, wondering what he'd found.


	14. Chapter 14

DiNozzo found his team leader in Autopsy, listening to one of Ducky's yarns. Or not, seeing as he could tell from Gibbs' body language that he'd tuned out. Tony handed the former Marine the print-out, pointing to a significant passage and murmured, "Boss."

Gibbs' eyes scanned it before he turned on his heel. "Thanks for the info, Duck," he said as he walked out, his senior field agent trotting after him. "Where to next, Boss?"

"Labby. Have the others meet us there."

"Including Kort and Volkov?"

His "no duh" look told Tony all he needed to know. "On it," he said, heading up to the bullpen.

Minutes later, the whole team and their CIA visitors were in Labby, Gibbs armed with a fresh Caf-Pow. The team leader asked, "You got anything for me, Abby?"

"Yep." Keys tapped and the recording of the petty officer's last phone call came up again. "Ziva, what time did you and Tony arrive at the cabin?"

"Oh-nine-twenty-five," she replied. Tony knew her well enough to detect the wariness in her tone. He had a sick feeling he knew where this was heading. It intensified when Abby fast-forwarded it to the howl. The time-stamp was 9:25, exactly when Ziva, in wolf form, and Tony entered the premises. _Crap. We're screwed._

 _No, really?_ came Ziva's sarcastic mental reply.

DiNozzo jumped. _Will you quit that?_

 _Sorry. I'll sometimes catch a stray thought. While we're on the subject, what's the ink on your back?_

 _How'd you know about that?_

 _I glimpsed it that night in the alley before you shifted._

 _Later, okay? Let's try not to tell Abby and McGeek. They'd just freak out._

 _Okay, but I don't see how we can keep it a secret from the rest of the team for much longer. As you already said, Jeanne wants to become one of us._

Abby's voice interrupted their mental conversation. "You guys didn't see a wolf around, did you?"

"How do you know it's a wolf's howl?" Kort asked from where he was leaning against the doorframe. "It could be a dog howling, for all you know."

The Goth had a stubborn look on her face. She crossed her arms and faced the shifty CIA agent. "Maybe, but I highly doubt that. I don't know of any dog that sounds like that."

"Abby, do you want this or not?" Gibbs asked, waving the Caf-Pow tantalizingly in her face.

She turned back, her black pigtails and red-trimmed dress narrowly missing McGee. Since it was Halloween, the forensic scientist had dressed up as a vampire, complete with fake fangs. DiNozzo had to suppress a snarl; vamps and Shifters didn't mix, even if Abby was only pretending to be one. "Anyway," Abby said, "our former Marine was killed with the same gun and knife used to murder Petty Officer Madison."

"Please tell me those were the ones we lifted from Nixon's house," said Tony.

"Yeah, they were. The prints are now smudged, but I was able to lift and identify two sets."

"Wait." Gibbs held up his hands in a "stop everything" gesture. "The Glock and Bowie knife were in Evidence at the time of the second murder."

The silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Finally, Meghan suggested, "Maybe someone snuck in, swapped the evidence with a couple of props, and walked out with the real murder weapons." When everyone stared at her, she said defensively, "What?"

"That's actually not the first time we've had something like that happen," McGee admitted. "In fact, Gibbs here often uses a similar tactic for interrogation."

The Bossman glared, but said nothing. He ordered, "Evidence lockup. _Now_."

While the agents exited Labby, Tony heard Ziva ask, "What did you find in that print-out, Tony?"

Glancing at the others to make sure they weren't eavesdropping—although one couldn't be too sure about the one and only Leroy Jethro Gibbs—he lowered his voice as he said, "Keane's the Shifter who told Nixon that we exist, and he said to keep an eye on a certain NCIS team—and a closer eye on two of its agents."

"You mean us." He could see her mind racing; her scent was tinted with fear. "Our dead petty officer must have figured out what we are, called him, then when we show up—you in wolf form—and she bolts."

"Now he thinks she's a Shifter, so he goes after her and—" Ziva mimicked firing a gun and slid a finger across her throat.

"Works for me," Gibbs said from where he'd stopped and looked back at them. Volkov and Kort exchanged glances, some mental conversation going on, Tony figured, and continued walking, following McGee.

"How long have you been standing there, Boss?" asked Tony.

"Long enough to hear your theory. Now keep moving."

Ziva and Tony had to trot to keep up.

When they reached lockup, Gibbs punched in the access code and the group was granted entrance. The former Marine flashed Ethan Keane's photo at one of the personnel and asked if the man had been in there the day before, but the woman said she hadn't seen him. Gibbs and McGee repeated the procedure with several others, but no one had seen him. DiNozzo, David, Kort, and Volkov, meanwhile, tried a different method. Even when they weren't in wolf form, they retained their heightened senses as wolves in their human shape. Between the four of them, they should be able to detect a single Shifter's scent. How hard could it be?

Not very. Ziva as the one who caught the scent after hanging around where they kept the Madison case files. This made sense, since she and Tony had been in the guy's house. Since no one had seen Keane as a human, Tony figured he had snuck in here as a wolf, shifted to grab what he needed and replaced them with the props, transformed, and loped away using the shadows as a cover, eventually returning to human form. If that were the case, surely someone had seen a black wolf with green eyes lurking around. Heck, maybe he'd even charmed his way in using his ATF agent status. Either way, they were totally screwed.

Anyway, they were now taking the box and bag from their spots on the shelf. One look was all it took to see that these weren't the Glock and Bowie Ziva and Tony had brought in. Gibbs swore, whirling around and striking out with a fist at one of the metal posts. All his efforts earned him were bruised knuckles, and he didn't have a Shifter's healing capabilities. Now that Tony thought about it, that was probably one of the reasons Nixon and Jeanne were interested in them. But how did the former Marine in Autopsy fit in? As far as he could see, he didn't. Wrong place at the wrong time, maybe? Gibbs' voice broke into his musings with: "Find Keane. Tony, I want you and Ziva on his trail—yes, _again_ ," he added when Ziva opened her mouth in protest. "The rest of you, see if you can find Nixon. I want those two _now_."

 _Probably because half his team is in danger,_ Tony thought—and he wasn't referring to Elf Lord or Gibbs himself. Obviously it was the team's two Shifters who were in trouble, even though they could take care of themselves and were highly trained federal agents.

"Tony, come on. Let's go," Ziva murmured in his ear, tugging gently on his arm. He followed her out to the elevator, then to the parking lot. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he let out an involuntary growl, stiffening as he swiveled his head, eyes searching. Beside him, Ziva went stock-still. "What is it?"

Finally his eyes located the object of interest. A solid black wolf with green eyes was crouched hidden among a copse of trees, even though most of the red and gold leaves had fallen off. Tony jerked his head slightly in the wolf's direction. "Over there, Ziva."

His partner followed his gesture, eyes narrowed. "Let's go." She was walking over to the solid black wolf before DiNozzo could utter a single word of protest.

Seeing them heading in his direction, the wolf—Ethan Keane—bared his teeth in a snarl, raised the fur on the back of his neck, and, turning on his heel, bolted.

Tony hurriedly told Ziva, "Call Gibbs. Tell him what's happened, then shift and try to catch up. I'm going to follow him."

She nodded and turned him to face her, their faces way too close. Just when Tony thought she was going to kiss him, she said, "Try not to get yourself killed. You don't have Gibbs's permission—or mine, for that mass."

"Matter, Ziva."

"Whatever. Now get going." She shoved him in the direction of the trees and pulled out her cell phone, dialing Gibbs' number.

The senior field agent jogged over to the copse and glanced around to make sure no one but Ziva was watching. Satisfied, he stripped, hid his clothes, gun, and shield, and transformed. Once in his wolf form, his already heightened senses exploded and he could easily track the black wolf. Tony glanced back at Ziva, who made a shooing motion at him. Then, tongue lolling in a wolfish grin, the green-gray-eyed brown wolf loped away, following his quarry's trail.

 _Never mess with Team Gibbs, buddy._


	15. Chapter 15

"Tell me you have something, Ziva," Gibbs said over the phone.

"Gibbs, Keane was here."

"Well, yeah, I know _that_ ," he said in a voice rich with sarcasm.

"No, I mean as in he was just here, we saw him, and he bolted. In wolf form. Tony's gone after him."

There was stunned silence for a few seconds. Then Gibbs cursed and said, "You're saying this guy is a werewolf?"

"Shifter," Ziva corrected, "and I'm going to help Tony."

"Ziva—" Gibbs started, but she'd hung up on him. Glancing around to make sure she was alone, Ziva started running towards the copse of trees, discarding her clothes as she went. Then she leaped into the air. When she landed, she was a dark brown she-wolf. She quickly nosed her clothes into a pile, picked up her and Tony's weapons and shields, and sprinted after her partner.

The Mossad liaison easily caught up with him and nipped at his heels. _I'm impressed. You're fast._ Somehow, she managed not to drop their shields or guns.

 _Thanks. Now let's go see if we can catch him,_ Tony thought, putting on a burst of speed. Ziva raced alongside him, their pelts occasionally brushing and sending an electric spark through her from nose to tail-tip. A low growl rose in her throat, slightly muffled by the objects she was carrying. Maybe she should just ditch the SIGs.

 _I wouldn't do that if I were you, Zi._

 _Sorry, but my jaws ache. And maybe you should have thought of grabbing your own gear._

 _Maybe. Just keep going, love. We're right on his trail._

Ziva almost tripped over her own paws. _What did you just call me?_

He didn't look at her, but he did slow down from their fast sprint to a three-beat lope. _I would've thought you'd figured it out already, Zi._ His tone was matter-of-fact.

 _You mean it's_ my _name on your ink?_ There was a hint of a snarl in her thought as she added, _What about Jeanne?_

 _She's a Static and I was just doing my job._

 _How touching._ The unfamiliar voice entered their minds. Ziva bristled and drew her lips back in a snarl, skidding to a halt and dropping her meager possessions. Beside her, Tony growled and took a step forward, hackles raised and tail lifted, showing all the signs of aggression. She scanned the streets for the black wolf and spotted him in the shelter of an alleyway. Had they really run that far that fast? Apparently. Bracing herself for a fight, Ziva dropped the SIGs and their shields and kicked them under a little overhang. Tail low, she crept forward, her weight on her haunches.

 _Ziva, wait._ Tony's voice in her head stopped her from going any further. She looked over her shoulder irritably at him. _What?_ The irritated Mossad officer sent her thought to him directly, using private thought-speak.

 _It could be a trap._

 _Then you check it. I'm going in._ Her wolf instincts were itching for a fight, and she welcomed the rush that came in the heat of battle. Belly low to the ground, she slunk forward, ears pricked for the slightest sound of movement from their suspected killer.

She'd made it into the entryway when a heavy weight dropped down on her. Ziva rolled with the impact and sprang to her paws, whirling to face her attacker. All she saw was a blur of black fur as Keane leaped for her. She launched herself at him, managing to rake her claws down his side as she did. When they landed, Ziva didn't give him a chance to attack. She pounced on him, burying her fangs in his shoulder. Ethan yelped and bucked, trying to throw the she-wolf off.

 _Geez. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't be aggressive and kick tail._

 _Hey, get off me,_ Ethan snarled.

 _No, I don't think so,_ Ziva shot back, sinking her fangs in even deeper. The black wolf went crazy, bucking and twisting in midair to try to loosen her hold. All his efforts earned him was more muscle damage.

Finally Ziva had to breathe. She tore herself free of her adversary and circled him, eyeing him warily. _Do you give up?_

The green-eyed midnight-colored wolf drew his lips back and growled, tongue flicking out between his teeth. _No._

 _I would if I were you,_ Tony remarked, trotting up to them. The amusement in his eyes made Ziva want to bite him. Instead, she settled on kicking Keane in the side.

 _Ow! Geez, what was that for?_ When neither NCIS Shifter replied, he asked Tony, _Why wouldn't I?_

 _Maybe because I'll gladly rip your throat out,_ Ziva said, placing a forepaw on his neck after Tony tipped him over onto his side. _Now, you're under arrest._

 _Wait, what?_

 _You have the right to remain silent,_ DiNozzo thought gleefully. _Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you._

Ethan struggled but stilled when Ziva snapped her jaws dangerously close to one of his ears. Do you not know what the word "freeze" means?

Thankfully, Gibbs arrived, panting. He'd obviously run there from NCIS headquarters. The silver-haired Static froze when he saw the tree wolves. "Tony? Ziva? Is that you guys?"

Ziva wagged her tail when Gibbs said her name and Tony barked. She asked, _Should we shift back?_

 _Yeah. We're near one of our lairs anyway._

The air between them became charged with static electricity; seconds later, where the two brown wolves had been, Tony and Ziva were.

Gibbs's shock reflected on his face. "So you weren't lying. And guys, put on some clothes."

"Yes, Boss," Tony said, slinging an arm around Ziva's shoulder. She let it stay there as they made their way to one of their hidden lairs. Shifters had set up these little hidey-holes in case of an emergency, so there were plenty of food, blankets, and clothes.

Five minutes later they returned wearing cotton sweatshirts and loose drawstring pants. Ziva had an extra pair for the captured Shifter, who pulled them on once he'd shifted back to human form.

Grinning, DiNozzo pointed at Keane and told Gibbs, "Book 'em, Dano."


	16. Chapter 16

He was treated to the almighty Gibbs-slap. "Shut up, DiNozzo."

"Yes, Boss," Tony replied, chastised.

Still, Gibbs hauled the black-haired Shifter to his feet and slapped handcuffs on his wrists. "You're under arrest."

"Hey, spare me the rap, okay? I've already had my rights read to me by these two. And I'm ATF. I know my rights."

A slight growl came from Ziva's throat, but she silenced it at a look from both Tony and Gibbs.

"Ziva, try not to kill him," said Gibbs. "I know you're Mossad and can turn into a wolf, but unless I say otherwise, no maiming or attacking is allowed, much less killing."

"Yes, Gibbs," she said, casting her eyes over Keane's wounds. As the result of a Shifter bite, his injuries would take longer to heal than regular ones.

"Now come on. Let's take him to Interrogation."

~*~*~*~

Behind the screen from Observation, the entire team minus Gibbs was watching, Tony munching on popcorn. Even Abby was there, though she'd removed the fake fangs, giving Ziva some sense of relief. She just didn't trust vampires, even fake ones. It didn't help that the Goth was singing "Thriller" by Michael Jackson under her breath. Of course, it was Halloween, but still. Throwing caution into the wind, she growled and snapped, "Will you _stop,_ Abby? You're making me crazy!"

Abby stopped singing and stared at her. "Was that a _wolf's growl_ I heard?"

"What, you want me to bite you? Or howl at the moon?" Ziva retorted. "'Cuz I won't."

"Girls!" McGee and DiNozzo said in unison. "Shut up!"

Abby crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at the probie. Ziva glared at the senior field agent and bared her teeth at him. They were very mature that way.

Everyone's attention returned to the scene in front of them as Gibbs turned in his chair and gave them the universal WTH look. Then he resumed his interrogation. Tossing photos of the two victims on the table, he asked, "Do you know these two?"

Keane studied them before saying, "No."

"Really? 'Cause they know you." The team leader overlaid the ID photos with headshots from Autopsy and the crime scenes, eyes holding Keane's, searching for a flicker of recognition. As the Shifter's eyes landed on Petty Officer Madison's photo, he flinched slightly before regaining his cool composure. It was something the whole team noticed. Picking up on it, Gibbs said, "You're sure you don't know Petty Officer Phoebe Madison?"

The ATF Shifter fidgeted. Ziva flashed back to last night and them being followed by a motorbike. Because it was dark and the headlight had been shining on the rearview mirror, she hadn't been able to see the bike's make, model, or license plate. She had, however, been able to see the rider, but it was only a glimpse. Her photographic memory served her well now, providing build, height, skin tone, and hair color. Ziva was relatively certain that the Shifter facing her boss, her pack leader, if you will, was the person riding the motorbike. She cursed under her breath in Hebrew and exited Observation, storming into Interrogation two seconds later.

Gibbs looked over at her in surprise, clearly wondering what she was doing in here. This was a direct violation of Rule Twenty-Two, after all. Then, at a shake of her head, his face hardened and he rose from the chair he usually occupied, allowing her to sit down. Instead, she motioned for Gibbs to sit back down. He did, the look on his face saying she'd better tell him what she was playing at. Ignoring him, Ziva strode to the table and, leaning forward, slammed her hands down so she and the other Shifter were eye-to-eye. She demanded, "You were following me and my partner last night, weren't you?"

He smirked, clover-green eyes traveling up and down her frame. "Your partner, huh? What kind of partner?"

She growled reflexively and the next thing she knew, the side of his face was red where she'd slapped him.

Behind the glass, Abby's eyes widened and McGee and DiNozzo's mouths fell open in identical stunned expressions. The Goth said, "Wow. I've never seen Ziva react like that. Have you guys?"

Tim replied, "No," and Tony mutely shook his head.

Back on the other side of the mirror, Ziva met Keane's clover-colored gaze, which had hardened as he glared back at her, obviously ticked off. The Israeli Shifter said, "Here's what I think: I think you contacted your old buddy Chris Nixon—for whatever reason—and told him about our . . . condition. Then he tells our dead petty officer—or maybe you did, I don't really care—and she figures it out. So she calls him, he panics, and he has her whacked. You also told him to keep a close eye on two NCIS agents, so we've got you on . . . how many charges, Gibbs?"

He replied, "Murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to kidnapping federal agents, and accessory to murder."

"That second-to-last is pure speculation," Keane blustered. Too late, he realized he'd confessed and clamped his mouth shut.

"Well, that was fast," Tim commented from Observation.

Tony agreed. "For once, we have a guy who 'fesses up and takes all the fun out of it. I'm actually wishing for the people who take longer to crack."

Abby wondered, "What condition is she talking about?"

McGee shrugged and DiNozzo lied, "I have no idea."

Ziva's sensitive ears picked up snatches of their conversation, but she didn't let it on. She continued, "I also think either you or Nixon did a jailhouse tattoo on their"—she tapped a forefinger on the photos, then switched them out for shots with the tattooed arms—"forearm that, as you can see, says _loup-garou_. Know what that means?"

Abby made the connection. "It means 'werewolf', right?"

"Yeah," said Tony without thinking.

Keane said, "You're crazy. I didn't do _that_."

She flashed a dangerous smile. "So where's Nixon?"

When the male Shifter clammed up, Gibbs said, "I wouldn't bother covering for him. If I were him, I'd have ratted you out by now. Besides, we have two agents out looking for him anyway, and Officer David here would be quite happy to have an excuse to shoot you. Or have you guys fight it out. Either way, you'd either be dead or even more wounded than you are now."

Keane considered his options briefly before sighing and rattling off an address. "Can I go now?"

"Oh, yeah," the team leader said as he gathered up the case file, stood, and headed for the door. "To Gitmo. I hear it's very nice this time of year."

Ziva turned, smirked, and gave a little wave. "Pleasure doing business with you."

They left the ATF agent sitting there and met with McGee, Tony, and Abby out in the hall. As her eyes met DiNozzo's, Ziva found herself wondering if he really was meant to be her mate. Until this case was over, they'd have to put whatever their relationship was and where it was going on hold.

"What now?" McGee asked Gibbs.

The former Marine replied, "See if Kort and Volkov have found Nixon and bring him in. If not . . . Well, I don't know."

"Great," Ziva muttered.

She tensed involuntarily when she heard Meghan's voice in her mind: _We can't find Nixon. It looks like he's skipped town._ The auburn-haired Russian must have been in wolf form. Meghan added a not-so-very-nice word in Russian, which made Ziva smile slightly. _We're gonna head back to NCIS; meet up with you guys. Did you find Keane?_

 _Yeah. He's in custody, and I'm sure he's the Shifter you were looking for,_ the Mossad liaison thought back.

 _Good._ Meghan's reply held a note of satisfaction. _By the way, is Tony your mate yet?_

Ziva, who had been walking alongside the others, stumbled. She would have fallen if Gibbs hadn't caught her. _Um, yeah, I guess. I mean, I just found out a little while ago that it's my name on his ink. Why are you so curious, anyway?_

 _Oh, no reason. Look, I gotta go._ Meghan severed the connection and Ziva became aware of the others looking at her in concern. DiNozzo asked, "You okay, Ziva?"

She was about to reply when she heard footsteps treading down the hall behind them. The Mossad liaison turned around and bolted for the interrogation room, the startled team behind her.

A quick glance inside confirmed her fears: Ethan Keane was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

Gibbs released a harsh curse and ordered, "Find him! He can't have gone far."

"On it," DiNozzo said automatically, jerking his head so Ziva would follow him. As they rounded the corner, he heard the silver-haired fox ask, "McGee, do you have a fix on Nixon?"

"Well, I can check and see if his cell phone is on," the computer geek said hesitantly. "The GPS on his phone would—"

"Do it." Gibbs' voice was tight and clipped as he issued the command. "And McGee, do it in Abby's lab. I want her helping you."

Not surprisingly, that sounded dirty in so many ways to Tony. He almost smiled but didn't when Ziva Gibbs-slapped him. She growled, "Get your mind out of the gutter, DiNozzo."

He retorted, "If you ever Gibbs-slap me again, David, I will—"

"Hey, I was following orders that first time." She smirked evilly. "Besides, I can read your mind, remember?"

Before he could reply, she had grabbed his hand and was pulling him behind her down the corridor.

~*~*~*~

Meghan cast a worried glance to her right at the gray-black wolf padding beside her. Kort was usually silent, but lately he hadn't been communicating much at all. She was about to ask what was wrong when she heard twigs cracking on the path in front of her (the two wolves were in Rock Creek Park). The russet-colored she-wolf swept her tail to the side, blocking her mate from going any further. She tensed and crouched, prepared to spring on her unknown enemy.

Kort asked, _What's wrong?_

 _I heard something,_ she thought back.

He tilted his head. _I don't—_

Before he could finish the sentence, a little six-year-old girl came tearing around the corner, sending dead leaves flying in her wake. She saw the two wolves and her eyes widened. "Doggies!"

 _Doggies?_ Meghan complained silently. _That's just insulting. Do I look like a dog to you?_

 _Why don't you roll over and we'll see?_ Kort teased as the girl came scrambling towards them with her hands outstretched. He stepped aside then scrabbled up a nearby bank, leaving Meghan to fend for herself.

 _Thanks for your help,_ she grumbled.

 _You're welcome._

Meanwhile, the girl was coming closer. Nervously, Meghan crouched low, a soft whine pouring from her throat. She really didn't want to hurt the kid unless absolutely necessary. Slinking away or snapping her jaws to scare her off didn't seem like good options, so she had to tolerate the girl's hands running through her fur. The scratching actually felt good, and there was an itch at the base of her tail. . . .

Then the girl's mother rounded the corner. She yelped when she saw her daughter petting a wolf as if it was a tame dog. "Get away from there!"

"Why?" the six-year-old pouted.

"That's not a dog."

"But she's so sweet. Can we keep her?"

Meghan could hear Kort laughing in her mind. _Shut up,_ she snarled silently.

"Sweetie, it's a wild animal. Come on, let's go." She took the girl's hand, and mother and daughter walked down the path. The girl looked back over her shoulder and waved. "Bye-bye, doggie!"

Once they were gone, Kort sent stones and fallen leaves ahead of him as he slid down the slope. Shaking the dust out of his fur, he thought gleefully, _I can't wait to hear what Tony and Ziva have to say about this._

Meghan flicked his nose with her tail. _Let's just get back to the Navy Yard. I told Ziva we'd be heading back soon anyway._

 _Ladies first._ Trent fell in beside her as they loped the way back they'd come to his car.

~*~*~*~

Tony and Ziva rounded the turn to find it empty. Or so they thought. There was a flicker of movement near the end of the corridor, close to the elevator. Ziva's enhanced hearing and eyesight picked up the sound of the elevator doors opening and the black-clad form of the suspect slipping through. _He's going to the parking lot_ , she realized. The Israeli Shifter started sprinting again, Tony stumbling behind her before he, too, ran to catch up. Her inner wolf was stirring, excited at the prospect of a hunt—of a kill.

"Ziva, control your wolf," she heard DiNozzo warn.

Somehow, she did, though she had to fight a little. Her beast, much like her, hated to be restrained.

Both of them skidded to a halt just as the elevator doors started to close. Horror shimmied down Ziva's spine when she saw that Keane, instead of going up to the car park, was heading _down_.

"We're screwed," she muttered. "He's going to the evidence garage."

"There's another way down there," Tony said. "Come on!"

He took off, Ziva alongside him. They ignored the curious looks they were receiving from other agents and personnel.

~*~*~*~

The Mossad liaison eyed the ancient-looking stairway in disgust. "You're joking. Since when are there secret passageways in this building?"

Tony paused for a second, thinking. "Good question. Now, come on." The movie-loving agent ducked down as the entered the little room so his head didn't graze the ceiling. With a cautious glance around to make sure they were alone, Ziva followed.

It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There were cobwebs all over the place and the old wooden stairs creaked, but that couldn't be helped. When another panel in the wall slid open to reveal Evidence Lockup, Ziva said in surprise, "Now we know how Gibbs gets around so fast."

"And this is probably how Keane got in," DiNozzo added. He stepped through, glancing around. "Careful, Ziva. He could be—"

Tony was cut off as a low, warning growl reverberated through the room. Brown eyes narrowed, Ziva watched, hidden, as her partner dropped and rolled, successfully avoiding the large black wolf as it leaped for him. As he rolled, he was removing his clothes, preparing to shift. Before he could, the other male Shifter was pouncing again, forepaws extended.

 _No!_ Quickly, Ziva began shedding her own clothes, making sure she stayed hidden. Then she transformed and, moving quietly, snuck up behind the two of them. The Israeli dropped into a crouch, muscles tense, and sprang, bowling over the green-eyed black wolf for the second time that Halloween. Her distraction gave Tony the opportunity to morph, and soon the medium-brown wolf was joining the battle.

Keane didn't stand a chance two-against-one, but desperation made him a vicious fighter. Somehow he knocked DiNozzo's paws out from under him, leaving the NCIS agent helpless. When his jaws closed around Tony's fur-covered throat, Ziva lunged for the midnight-colored wolf again. The hind paw lashing out stunned her momentarily, but she recovered quickly. All she knew was that she had to release Keane's suffocating hold on Tony. If she didn't, he would die. After all, they didn't have Gibbs's permission.

Ziva bit down hard on Ethan's tail, causing him to yelp with pain and release Tony. The furious wolf turned on her, snarling, completely forgetting about the recovering DiNozzo. Unleashing a low howl of rage, he leaped for the crouching she-wolf.

It was his fatal mistake.

Immediately Ziva sprang up from the floor, her jaws latching onto his throat. She ignored the fresh wave of pain as his claws raked her shoulders. Besides, his blows were steadily growing weaker as she tightened her hold, crushing his windpipe.

She tasted blood and, forcing her jaws apart, stepped back. If she'd nicked his carotid artery, he would bleed to death within seconds—and, knowing anatomy, she knew she had. It helped that, in death, Keane reverted back to human form.

A hand rested on her shoulder, making her whirl around, teeth bared.

DiNozzo, back in human form and fully dressed, jerked his hand away from those snapping jaws. "Ziva, cool it! It's just me. You can shift back now."

Her brown eyes narrowed at him before she slunk away to where she'd stashed her clothes. A minute later she reappeared, clothed, and saw Tony was on the phone.

"Gibbs, we found Keane in Evidence Lockup. You might want to bring Ducky," he said tersely before hanging up. He turned to Ziva, arms out questioningly, head tilted to the side.

She took a step toward him—and snatched his phone out of his hand.

"Hey!"

She scrolled through his contacts and then looked up in surprise. "You have Meghan's phone number but not Kort's?" The Mossad officer pressed Send anyway, smiling slightly at Tony's indignant outraged look.

"Who are you and how did you get this number?" was the first thing Ziva heard on Volkov's end of the line. All she said in response was, "It's Ziva."

"Oh. I'm guessing you're using Agent DiNozzo's cell."

"Yes, but this isn't a friendly call." At the tense silence, she knew she had the other she-wolf's interest. "Keane's dead. We—Tony and I—had to fight to defend ourselves and I killed him. You and Kort can go home."

"You know this isn't over," the auburn-haired Russian warned.

"I know," Ziva replied, but Meghan had already hung up. The Israeli turned back to Tony, intending to return the cell phone, and saw he was pulling Keane's clothes back on the corpse. Although they were violating protocol, neither agent could leave him like that. Pocketing the phone, she helped her—partner? mate?—with the gruesome task. When they were done, she handed him his phone—and stepped closer. Understanding what she needed, his hands slipped around to her back, holding her, comforting her.

"He would have killed you," she whispered. "I had to do it." Although she had been trained by Mossad to be a killer, as a Shifter—who respected life—she hated it. Even an enemy was killed with regret.

"I know," Tony soothed, "but I'm glad you did. Besides"—he smiled a little—"I don't have Gibbs's permission to die."

That elicited a laugh from her before she cut it off and snuggled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

They were still in that position when McGee, Gibbs, Abby, Palmer, and Ducky arrived two minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't suppose singing "ding dong, the witch is dead" wouldn't be inappropiate? And there's a little Tiva moment, for you guys. Let me know what you think.
> 
> ~~ Brambleshadow


	18. Chapter 18

Gibbs cleared his throat and snapped, "Once you two are done playing—"

"They didn't look like they were doing anything," Abby interrupted. The Goth looked at them curiously before her eyes landed on the corpse. "What happened to him?"

Ducky and his assistant crouched near the body. Palmer took one look and blanched. "It looks he was mauled by a dog."

"Yes, I would say cause of death was this bitemark on his throat," Dr. Mallard said. He snapped on latex gloves so he could further examine the body. Placing a gloved hand on the dead Shifter's skin, he frowned. "Jethro, he's still warm. I'd say he's been dead for a few minutes."

Tim, Abby, and Palmer stared at the ME and team leader, then swiveled their heads to Ziva and Tony. She held their gazes steadily. "What?"

The forensic scientist's eyes latched onto the wounds on Tony's neck that were just visible over his shirt collar. "You're hurt." Abby stepped forward and nudged the collar down so she could have a better look. "Ohmigod, Tony, what happened? You too, Ziva."

Ziva's partner snorted and gestured at the corpse. "He bit me. I bit him back. Served him right. I wish I had rabies."

"Need I remind you you'd be dead if it weren't for me?" the Israeli added. She winced and put a hand to her head where one of Ethan's hind paws had struck her. There weren't any marks but it did hurt.

Abby's brow furrowed then relaxed as she figured it out. Ziva could almost see the light bulb go off over her head. "You guys are were—"

Lightning fast, Ziva clamped a hand over Abby's mouth, muffling the end of her sentence. Removing her hand, she lied, "No, we're not, but we don't want a rumor like that circulating around."

"Yeah, sure," the Caf-Pow-loving scientist said quickly.

"Well," Ducky said as he rose from where he was crouched next to the body, "let's bring him to Autopsy. "Mr. Palmer, did you bring the body bag?"

Surprisingly, he had. The two MEs zipped up the corpse and headed for Autopsy carrying the bag between them.

Tony tensed beside Ziva when Abby, who had moved away from them, whispered something in McGee's ear that had the probie shooting furtive glances at his teammates. Ziva, too, stiffened, but for a different reason: Gibbs was giving them his infamous stare.

"You two, here, now," he all but snarled. In a softer tone, he told Abby and McGee to head to Labby. "McGee, what's the status on Nixon?"

"Sorry, Boss, but he's turned off his cell and he hasn't left a paper trail. He's gone off the grid." Then the geek and the Goth left.

If Ziva was in her wolf form right now, she would have her tail tucked between her legs and be cowering in submission. Gibbs was way mad.

"I don't suppose you want to tell me what happened?" he asked in a voice of steel, his pale blue eyes as cold as ice.

"When we arrived," Tony began, "Keane had already shifted and was waiting for us. He jumped me, but I dodged. Keane attacked me again before I could morph. Then Ziva shifted—she was hidden—and shoved Keane off of me. Like I said before, unless we're bitten by another lycanthrope or the weapon that strikes us is silver, we have the ability to heal quickly."

"He tried to take on the two of us," Ziva took over, "and managed to knock Tony off his paws. He would have killed him if I didn't, Gibbs. It was self-defense."

She was relieved to see that the hard look in his eyes abated. "File the paperwork, then rest. It's been a long day."

"You're right about that," Ziva muttered as she followed the other two to the elevator.

~*~*~*~

Hours later the team was chowing down on Chinese, courtesy of DiNozzo (it was his turn to buy dinner). The case was closed to their satisfaction—they'd catch Chris some other day—and Ziva, Tony, Tim, and Leroy Jethro had finished their reports. Of course, both Ziva and her partner were careful to omit any aspects of the case that dealt with their world. Ethan Keane's autopsy would confirm that he was killed by a wolf, but there was nothing they could do about that. And if Abby _did_ run the DNA found on his body, it would be mostly wolf with some human DNA mixed in.

As if the thought of her called her up, Abby came bouncing into the bullpen. _She's probably loaded with caffeine_ , Ziva thought. Still, she listened as the hyperactive black-haired woman said, "What are you guys doing here? It's Halloween! A friend of mine is having a party and she said I could bring friends. You're all invited." She stopped talking and looked at them expectantly. "McGee, are you coming?"

"Uh . . . well . . ."

"Why not, _Elf Lord_?" Tony teased.

Ziva watched on in amusement as Tim sighed. "Okay. Tony, just don't tease me."

The senior field agent smiled wickedly. "Going as your online gaming persona?"

McGee's flushed skin spoke volumes.

Raising her voice in order to be heard above DiNozzo's laughter, Abby chose her next victim. "What about you, Ziva?"

She glanced down at her long-sleeved black shirt and dark blue jeans. "Sure, Abby. Hears like fun."

"It's 'sounds like fun,' Ziva," Tony corrected.

"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Tony, are you coming to the party?"

With a smile, he replied, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Great!" Abby clapped her hands together. "See you there!" She extracted some slips of paper from her pocket. "Here's the time and address." With a wide grin on her face, she skipped towards the elevator, fake fangs back in place.

Briefly Ziva wondered if the team leader should have been invited but shrugged. Gibbs would probably spend the whole night working on his boat.

"See you tomorrow, Boss," said McGee as he followed Abby.

"I'm gonna head too," DiNozzo added, rising from his seat.

Ziva said a hasty good-bye and caught up with the others just as the elevator doors started to close.

~*~*~*~

It was 8:00 at night. Ziva parked her car and headed up the long, winding driveway. She was glad of her night vision; it enabled her to see objects and holes that would trip up Statics.

A dark shadow loomed at the edge of her vision. The Shifter whirled, already positioned in a fighting stance. A low warning growl issued from her throat.

"Ziva, relax," a familiar voice said. "It's me."

She loosened her tense muscles. "Tony, if you value your life, don't ever sneak up on me like that again."

"Yes'm." He grinned, his teeth flashing white in the darkness, and gestured at the decorations. "Creepy, huh?"

Ziva glanced around, taking in the dead trees, fake ghosts, cobwebs, black cats, and tombstones galore. Then she focused on Tony, looking him up and down. "What are you supposed to be—Elvis?"

He shuddered. "God, no." A sly smile lit his face. "I'm a Hollywood werewolf—before the transformation."

She flicked her gaze up casually. "You might be in trouble for that. It's the full moon tonight."

"Good point, my ninja." Then he frowned. "Somehow, I didn't expect for you to come as—"

"Your crazy ninja?"

"Yes."

Ziva glanced down at her outfit—it was what she'd been wearing all day—and smiled slightly. "Do you want to go inside?"

Heat shot through her as he took her hand in his. "I'd like to walk around for a bit first," Tony said. "Care to join me?"

She said nothing, just let him lead as they wandered the grounds. Pale light from the moon washed everything silver and cast deep shadows. Ziva had to fight her animalistic nature; full moon nights always made her edgy.

They stopped when the large house appeared to be five feet tall, in a clearing ringed by trees. All too aware of DiNozzo's closeness to her, Ziva risked stealing a glance and found he had leaned in close. A shiver raced up her spine at the realization he intended to kiss her. Not only that—she wanted him to. And right now she could feel the heat of his body reaching out. Her head tilted up in invitation; the next second, his warm mouth was on hers, hesitant at first but quickly becoming more passionate.

Reluctantly, she finally pulled back. " _Now_ how about we check out the party?"

"Sounds good to me," he agreed.

As they walked back to the house, hands clasped together, Ziva could feel that soul-deep connection she'd heard about: the connection that meant she'd found her mate. Whatever was coming next, they could handle it.

Together.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning was November 1st, better known as All Souls' Day. NCIS Director Jenny Shepard was in her office reading over the file on the Phoebe Madison case. She was pleased that the case had been closed, but there were some parts of it that she felt were missing from Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva's reports. It was almost as if the three of them were hiding something. But what?

Pondering over the question, Jenny punched the intercom button that connected her to her secretary. "Cynthia, bring up Special Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo and Officer David."

"Yes ma'm," Cynthia replied.

Seconds later, her door slammed against the wall, announcing the presence of her former lover and two of his agents. "Hello. Have a seat, you three."

The look on DiNozzo's face was priceless. He looked like he was back in high school, facing the principal as he waited for his verdict.

Ziva spoke first, voicing the question that no doubt was on all three agents' minds. "What's this about, Director?"

Jenny took a few moments to formulate her thoughts. Then she began, "About you reports—"

"What about them?" Gibbs interrupted shortly.

"Something's off. Is there something you deliberately kept out of them?"

"You could say that," Tony muttered.

Ziva shot him a warning glare and kicked him in the shin.

Gibbs slapped both of them on the back of the head.

The redheaded director said nothing. She raised an eyebrow, waiting until the three of them were settled. Then she remarked, "Enlighten me."

Tony and Ziva looked at Gibbs, who shook his head and stepped back. "I'm staying out of this. It's your problem."

Jenny noticed the two briefly exchange glances. Some unspoken message passed between them, something along the lines of:

Ziva: _You tell her._

Tony: _Why me? I'm the one who told Gibbs. Remember?_

Ziva: _Fine. I'll do it._

Amazing how she could tell all that just from studying the looks on their faces.

Finally the Mossad liaison officer said carefully, "Director, do you believe in the supernatural?"

Wondering where this was going, Jen replied, "Not exactly, but I like to think I have an open mind."

Something close to relief flashed across Ziva's face. "Good. Director, Tony and I are Shifters."

It took her a few moments to comprehend that. "What?"

Ziva shifted her weight. "The general public would call us werewolves, but the technical term is lycanthrope."

Jen's mind whirled; she gave a half laugh. "You're not just saying that because yesterday was Halloween, are you?"

Again, the three of them exchanged glances. Jenny noticed and latched her gaze on her ex-lover. "You're not a werewolf as well, right?"

Thankfully, he shook his head. "No, I'm human."

Agent DiNozzo said, "We're not lying, Director. And for future reference, we call ourselves Shifters."

 _This is ridiculous. Everyone knows werewolves don't exist! This must be from the stress of the case—yes, that's it. I mean, really, werewolves! Some counseling would be good for them._

Pleased with the decision, the redhead said, "Agent DiNozzo, Officer David, I'm ordering you two to attend therapy for two weeks."

"Director!" Ziva protested.

Tony sputtered, "You're not seriously going to make us see a shrink when we're perfectly fine!"

"Watch me," she retorted.

Growling, the senior field agent turned and stalked out of the office. Ziva gave the director an apologetic look before following him out.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs's lips twitched as he fought back a smile. Jen leaned back in her chair and studied him. "How long do you think they're going to last?"

"Not even a week," he said with a chuckle. "See you, Jen." Still laughing, the former Marine walked out of her office, slamming the door shut behind him.

Director Shepard closed her eyes. A ghost of a smile flitted across her face as she pictured Tony and Ziva making their dramatic escape out of the shrink's office, not having lasted even an hour.

~*~*~*~

The brunette stood in the doorway of the crowded restaurant, searching for the person she'd agreed to meet. She found him near the back at a table for two and weaved her way through the maze. Sitting down across from him, she said, "You wanted to see me."

Hazel eyes topped by shaggy blond hair peered over the menu, looking her over. The twenty-five-year-old man set the menu down and slid it to the side. "You're late."

"Maybe you're early," she retorted.

He checked his black wristwatch and feigned surprise. "So I am. Now, let's get down to business. I'm Chris. Your name is Jeanne, right?"

"Yes."

Chris leaned forward, his hands clasped together and resting on the table in front of him. He was about to say more when the waitress who had just materialized asked, "What would you like to drink?"

"Water," he answered.

"Iced tea," said Jeanne when the woman turned to her.

The waitress made a note and left.

When they were alone again, Chris picked up where he'd left off. "Look, I know your friend Tony—"

"He's no friend of mine," Jeanne spat.

Chris inclined his head. "I can see why you think that, after finding out that he's a werewolf. But just think of the medical ramifications!" His eyes lit up. "In wolf form, they heal even faster than we do. If we could isolate that gene, replicate it . . . and there are the recreational uses, too. Wouldn't you want to be able to shift into a wolf?"

Jeanne hesitated, thinking back to the night Tony had been in her apartment. She envied him for what he was, yet scared of him too. Beneath that was longing. . . . The brunette took a deep breath. "What are you proposing?"

The waitress came by, set down their drinks, and went on to other customers. Chris took a sip of water before answering her question. "A partnership. I want to capture a lycanthrope and study it, but I need your help. You in?"

She swallowed. "I'm in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for the first part of this chapter goes to Ashlight11 on FF.net. Thanks for the idea! And sadly, this book is now finished.
> 
> If you enjoyed _Strangers in the Night_ , turn the page for a sneak peek at the next book in the series, _Lovers in the Night_. (It's a working title.)


	20. Sneak Peek

**The Night's Agents  
Book 2  
 _Lovers in the Night_**

The NCIS-Mossad liaison crouched behind the ferns. Her chocolate-brown eyes flitted warily over the forest, searching for anything even remotely suspicious or dangerous. Her body tensed as she heard something in the woods up ahead. Or was it behind her?

Then a hand came down on her shoulder.

She whipped out her knife, whirled around, and pressed it to her unknown assailant's neck, kicking out his legs from underneath him so he was lying on his back.

Forest-green eyes looked up at her. Her partner choked, "Easy, Ziva. It's just me."

"Tony," she replied calmly, relenting a bit on the pressure she was putting on his chest. He scrambled into a sitting position.

"You know you can put that knife away, right?"

"Yes." Ziva David quickly sheathed her knife, rocking back on her heels to study him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you."

"Why?"

"Ziva, someone's been searching our camp. I—"

That was as far as he got before everything went black.


End file.
